


nimio timore

by orphan_account



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Also I made Bill ooc enough to make a healthy relationship possible, Bill thinks 3d is hilarious, F/F, Gen, Human!Bill, M/M, MagicallyGifted!Dipper, Trans Dipper Pines, Trans Mabel Pines, Updates Saturdays, also dipper has inattentive type add, also feat. lots of cool&famous cryptids and ghosts because im one of THOSE horror fans, also pacifica had a redemption arc pre the setting of this fic, because why not i already over-identify with him anyway, but this isnt just like endless trans angst like trans people exist outside of their dysphoria jfc, has some lore bc why not, not abusive or underage, oh um also Bill gets an anthropomorphic form about a fifth of the way in so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-05-22 20:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6092341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>feat Dark!Gravity Falls, the average "Dipper and Mabel return after highschool or whatever" plot, lots of convoluted conspiracy stuff, and then an actual conspiracy.</p><p>Maybe with a bit of fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Smiling Man

It’d been an hour since they saw any signs of civilization when the faded _Welcome to Gravity Falls!_ sign passed by their window.

Dipper and Mabel stepped off the bus. Fresh air filled Dipper’s lungs, a relief after spending hours on the interstate. Late afternoon Sunlight glinted orange off of the road signs, and the twins made their way to the mystery shack, the path a simple two-mile hike through the woods. 

They hadn’t been back in a while. After their first adventure, Dipper and Mabel had gotten into the habit of yearly visits. But the summer of their seventeenth birthdays, their mom was in a car accident, and they’d stayed to help care for her throughout her recovery.

Now, though, she was fine, and Mom and Pops pines were having fun down in San Francisco, so the twins were free to run off to college (Gravity Falls Community College, specifically, the Fall quarter starting in September this year). Dipper looked forward to it; he was probably going to be a history or political science major, in all honesty, but he enjoyed learning, even if he wasn’t that good at showing his skills in the classroom.

The brambles consumed the mostly-unused path, and they tripped over a branch a few times each. Still, they were having fun. They missed this place; the way huge conifers towered over their heads, the warmth from the patches of light shining through the canopy, how everything was tinged yellow and green.

Cold air blew across his forehead, so different from california, and Dipper sighed. “It’s nice to be here,” he remarked, Mabel nodding in agreement to his left.

They finally reached the edge of the forest, into the clearing that housed the Mystery shack. They each took a moment to step back and admire years of damage stitched together like patchwork. The “S” of the shack had been replaced, the new one bright red. It stood out against the other letters, which were a dark brown, the red faded after years of weather. 

They lugged their baggage up the front steps and knocked on the door.

“Soos! Melody!” Mabel called, “It’s the pines twins!”

They weren’t staying here, but they wanted to stop by and visit before calling a taxi down to Mcgucket’s mansion. He and Dipper had completed several projects together, consulting one another over the phone. Dipper considered the old guy one of his best friends, even if he still had issues with memory. Sometimes he’d only loose a conversation, sometimes he would call up a blank for entire weeks, one time a whole month.

He’d still offered a place to stay as soon as Dipper mentioned they would be able to come by this year, which was pretty great, since he and mabel didn’t want to encroach on Soos and Melody’s space, especially now, what with-

“Mabel! It’s so good to see you,” Melody crooned, opening the door. In her arms was Stan, a baby. Named after his honorary grandfather, of course.

Dipper knew that there was a baby inside this house, but he was not prepared for the wide-eyed, blotchy-cheeked, toothless blob of adorable fat grasping on to Melody’s hair.

“Oh my gosh,” Mabel squeaked. “He’s so cute!” Balancing all her luggage in one hand, Mabel started to play with it.

“Please, come in,” Melody said, and stepped back to allow them entrance. 

They filed in and set down their luggage, and suddenly Dipper’s shoulders felt three tons lighter. Mabel was unfazed, of course. Not just because she’d packed less- most of her extra items were yarn or otherwise wool-based, which weren’t nearly as dense as the textbooks cluttering dipper’s suitcase- but she was definitely the Alpha Twin. She had ended up taller, even with help from hormones, and had a knack for athletics that Dipper could never hope to match.

They settled in the living room. Dipper melted into the soft, comfortable armchair, and the two women sat on the sofa opposite him. Mabel made cooing sounds at Stan while Dipper and Melody talked.

“How’ve you guys been?” Dipper started. “How’s Stan doing?”

“Stan’s been fine,” Melody said, smiling. “But with all the talk at the hospital about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, I’ve been worried sick that something crazy’ll happen, y’know?”

“I know what you mean,” Dipper smiled back. “That’s pretty normal. When Mom got back from the hospital, we were all hovering around, expecting a seizure at any moment. It was almost a relief when she actually had one.”

“That must’ve been terrible.”

“Nah, we’re fine.” Dipper replied.

“She’s all good now, so there’s nothing to really worry about.” Mabel chimed in.

“I...guess that makes sense.” Her eyebrows were pinched together in distress. Dipper felt really terrible, and chided himself for being so blunt.

That’s when Soos walked in.

“Aw, hi, you guys!” He bumbled, like a giant, person-shaped stuffed animal. “I’m so glad you could show up this year. Dudes, it’s so great to see you.”

Dipper really missed him. Damn.

After that, they all caught up. The tourism business had been okay. Stan was, well, being a baby, and keeping them up most nights. They’d been busy lately, and haven’t gotten out of the house much. Melody had started writing a book when she wasn’t with the baby, and Soos had been spending time on keeping the Mystery Shack up and running.

“Well, we should get going,” Mabel remarked, pointing out the window at the darkening sky.

Dipper checked his phone. “Oh, yeah. Darn.” He got up and started gathering up his bags. “It’s almost six-thirty, the taxi should be here soon.”

“It was nice seeing you dudes. Don't be afraid to drop by.”

* * *

Dipper woke up feeling weird. His dreams were strange flashes of discomfort and excitement, and it was a struggle for him to not roll over and go back to sleep.

There was a knock at the door. “Pines, wake up. McGucket says he needs to talk to you.”

Groaning, he dragged himself to the edge of his mattress, tossing his feet onto the floor. He grabbed his glasses and placed them on his nose.

“Hey, you decent?”

“Agrphg.”

“I’m coming in.”

The door opened, and into Dipper’s newly-focused field of vision walked Pacifica Northwest.

Her hands on her hips, chin up, back straight, she was exactly how Dipper remembered her.

Exempting, that is, the dirtied apron around her waist, the practical housework clothing and hairdo, and the box of cleaning equipment she carried in her strong hands.

“Pines. I could’ve gone my entire life without knowing you sleep in only your boxers.”

“‘S been a while,” he slurred. It was way too early for this.

“No shit. Come on, get up. You smell even worse than I remember,” she said, eyebrow raised. “Mcgucket wanted to see you, but it can wait for you to take a shower. Phew,” She made exaggerated fanning motions. “Excuse me while I open up a window.”

Dipper smiled. “It’s not that bad.” He theatrically smelled his armpit and withdrew in disgust. “Okay, it is that bad. Sorry, Mabel and I had two days straight of bus rides, and we were pretty tuckered out. Sleep sounded better than a shower,” he took another sniff, “at the time, at least. Whew.”

“Nice chest hair.” Pacifica opened up the curtains, flooding the room with light.

“Yeah, I got lucky.” He shrugged, ignoring the feeling telling him to be self-conscious about his boobs. Pacifica had been cool with Mabel for years now, and he was fine with his body at the moment, so it was all a-ok.

Pacifica rolled her eyes. “Go get in the shower, sleepyhead. I’ll make your bed.”

Dipper wasn’t in the mood to argue.

* * *

A half hour later, he was downstairs watching McGucket pack his bags.

“You’re sure you need to go?”

“Yes. Ford sent for me,” He picked up a pager and gestured to it, then put it in his bag. “I don’t know what he and Stan need, but I can’t refuse them.” He stopped, picking up his duffel and suitcase. “Be careful, Dipper.”

Thunder cracked in the distance.

“I’ll be fine.”

“After the whole ‘nevermind all that’ incident- I’m worried. It was quiet for a few years, but then-” McGucket shook his head. “Things have been getting worse. Especially recently. Our problems have been growing at an exponential rate.”

McGucket walked out of the door, and Dipper followed him down the stairs to the front doors.

“Just… pay attention, Dipper. Think before you act.” McGucket turned to face him. “I’m putting you in charge while I’m away. Be careful.”

“You too, old man.”

“Darn whippersnapper. Don’t blow up my house, kid.”

And with that, he marched out into the downpour, his figure disappearing in seconds.

* * *

The next morning, Mabel found Dipper in the kitchen, furiously typing on his laptop, wearing a stained shirt and yesterday’s boxers.

“Jesus, dude. Did you even sleep?”

He startled, nearly falling off his stool. “Um. probably.” Dipper groaned. He took off his glasses with one hand and rubbed his eyes with the other. “What time is it?”

“Like, six in the morning, bro-bro.” Mabel grabbed the seat next to him.

“What are you doing up so early?”

Mabel’s hair was wet, her face freshly shaved with makeup applied. “I didn’t want Pacifica to catch me before my morning routine. Not that I need to do anything, I’m just self-conscious.” Mabel leaned back and took a long drag out of her coffee mug. “It’s shot day, by the way.”

Dipper sighed. He slumped in his seat.

“Bro, you gotta take better care of yourself. Before you know it, all the blood in your veins will have been replaced by caffeine.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Dipper rested his forehead on the table.

“C’mon, man, get up. Walk up the stairs and I’ll let you sleep for a few hours.”

That was an insanely tempting offer, Dipper thought. “But I’ve got too much stuff-”

“It can wait until tomorrow, Dip-dop. Go to bed.”

Dipper walked towards the mansion’s long and elaborate staircase. Then he paused and turned around. “Thank you, Mabel.”

“No problem, Dipper.”

Dipper resumed the trek to his room.

* * *

Later that day, once Dipper had slept, showered, gotten dressed, and taken his testosterone shot, he got back to work.

He'd been writing articles for local papers, as well as some creative writing on the side. Not just writing, either; he'd been reviewing McGucket’s notes and photocopies of journal pages, figuring out everything he could so that he could understand what the old geniuses were doing and how to contribute. He was always really embarrassed when they had to explain things in person.

Mabel, meanwhile, was a tech prodigy.

Dipper was surprised McGucket even gave him the time of day when Mabel was around. She had organisational skills and a work ethic to rival Hermione Granger. Outside of concocting her own inventions, she improved upon McGucket and Ford’s work all the time, succeeding consistently. If his wounded pride didn’t get in the way, Dipper could show Mabel whatever he was stuck on and have the problem solved in ten minutes.

Dipper, in addition to being a terrible mess, was slow. He always came to the right conclusion, but that was because he couldn’t focus enough on one possibility to not explore ten others. He was fed up with himself, being so inefficient. So he worked almost constantly, trying to match his sister.

And then, he always got distracted by his side projects. He would be in the middle of one thing, start spacing out, realise something, and immediately drop everything to work on some stupid sigil, narrative, or complicated spell theory. The important stuff never got done in the meantime.

Dipper took a sip of his coffee, his other hand tapping a rhythm out on the table while he tried to rationalise an equation describing the WME (Weirdness Magnetism Effect) of Gravity Falls.

“Hey Dipper, I’m going grocery shopping.” Pacifica strutted into the room, already wearing her coat.

Dipper’s focus was shattered. “What do we need?”

“Mabel wanted to make cookies earlier today, but we didn’t have enough sugar.” She wrote a quick note for Mabel and left it on the counter.

“She asked you to go buy sugar for her?”

“No.” Pacifica started walking out the side door by the garage.

“Hey, wait up.” Dipper ran after her. “I’ll go with you. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the town.” Luckily, he was already wearing pants.

* * *

The two walked to the grocery store. Conversation was awkward and stilted at first, but they eventually got past it. 

“So what, like, you’re the maid? In your own home?”

“Well… yeah.” Pacifica fidgeted with her hands and avoided Dipper's eyes. “My parents and I had a falling out and… “ she trailed off, then sighed.

“I lost my inheritance, and they’re not offering me any financial support. Or communication.”

She looked up. “But it’s cool,” she declared. “Once I spend a year living on my own, I'll be able to apply to universities for financial support for the money I’ll actually have, not the money my parents could give me.” She smiled. 

Dipper nodded along. 

“Besides, it feels nice to be doing this on my own. McGucket offered me the position a few months ago, when I couldn't get a job anywhere else, and so far things have been going great.”

“I know the feeling.” Dipper wasn’t anywhere near where he wanted to be, either, but he was happy. Life was still going well.

Looking ahead, Dipper could see the general store by the town center.

The two entered the store, purchased enough ingredients to bake approximately 100 cookies (all that they could carry), and started walking back.

The sun had long set. The streets were empty and silent.

While Dipper and Pacifica walked, they grew tense, until they had stopped talking altogether. Their steps echoed on the concrete, background noise for their harsh breaths and beating hearts.

A man turned onto the sidewalk across the street from them. It wasn’t anyone Dipper had seen around town before.

He was dancing. Large, exaggerated broadway dancing. His eyes were wide and a smile stretched across his face, pulling much farther up his cheeks than would seem comfortable (or possible). 

They kept walking, and eventually passed him.

Then Dipper glanced behind his shoulder.

The man was about 20 ft behind them, frozen. He was halfway across the street, caught in the middle of a long, exaggerated step, like something out of an old cartoon. The large smile was still on his face, and his wide eyes were looking right at them. The distance he’d covered since Dipper last looked at him suggested he had traveled at great speed.

Then he started moving.

Dipper and Pacifica were frozen to the spot as the man danced towards them. When he got about two feet away, he stopped and stared at them.

They stared back, too terrified and confused to take action.

Dipper couldn’t look away from his face.

The man’s eyes were like saucers, with pupils small as pinpricks right in the middle. His teeth were decayed and pointed. Skin was scrunched up by his forehead and cheeks, accommodating the huge stretch of his mouth and brow.

Dipper could feel Pacifica shaking next to him.

The man turned and started dancing away, going back in the direction the two had came from. 

They didn’t move, neither willing to turn their back on him. They watched him until he danced all the way to the end of the street.

At which point, he turned around and started sprinting at them, inhumanly fast.

Dipper and Pacifica fled. The man’s footsteps pounded closer and closer as they ran, but neither permitted themselves to waste time looking back.

They just kept going, even when their muscles ached and their throats burned raw.

Eventually they managed to break out onto a populated street, the both of them heaving and panting. Dipper could’ve sworn he’d heard heavy breathing and footsteps that were far too close just a moment ago, but looking around, the smiling man was nowhere in sight.

Gasping for air, Pacifica was the first to speak. _“What the fuck just happened?”_

“I d- I don’t know.” Dipper could feel his heart racing against his ribcage and throbbing at his temples.

Pacifica took out her phone. “I’m going to call Mabel and have her come pick us up.”

Dipper frantically nodded in agreement. “Jesus Fuck,” he eloquently declared. Dipper noticed the ruffled plastic at her hip. “I can’t believe you didn’t drop your bags!”


	2. The Rake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So like. Dipper and Pacifica ran into a reaaalllyy weird dude last night. But gravity falls is weird, so like, whatever. y'know? You know. Also, Wendy's in this chapter, so that's cool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit this is so late im sorry  
> i was busy with coursework but also i honestly forgot for a bit whoops

In the morning, Dipper and Pacifica laughed off their encounter with the man from the previous night. They attributed the entire event to Gravity Falls’ weirdness. 

Dipper had been pretty freaked out, but Pacifica seemed unshaken. Which was good for her, he guessed. He did notice that immediately after they got home, she and Mabel went upstairs together.

Mabel was frightened when they told her last night, but this morning she just seemed mildly worried. When Dipper had walked into the kitchen after a fitful night with little sleep, Pacifica and her had been talking in hushed tones. They’d quieted as soon as he came into the room, and Mabel has started talking about pancakes in what was an obvious subject change.

So Dipper was a little upset. Mabel was a notoriously terrible secret keeper, though. So she’d probably talk to him sometime soon. Dipper resolved to acknowledge his sister’s right to privacy and wait it out.

Right now, Dipper was working again. 

He was sorting through some old documents the grunkles sent him from an excavation site near the mediterranean. They were old, but the scans were of high quality, and he’d recognised the code as something he’d seen used as a reference to-

The phone rang.

Dipper sighed and got up. He walked over to the outdated phone, and mentally prepared himself for the stress of talking to someone.

“Hello, Dipper Pines speaking. You’ve reached McGucket Manor.”

“Dipper? It’s Wendy. I heard you were in town?” Her voice seemed scratchy, but that could’ve been attributed to the static on the phone line.

“Yeah, Mabel and I are moving here for a few years, actually. How’ve you been? What’ve you been up to?”

“Dipper, you should-” Static blared loudly, scattering and obscuring Wendy’s words. “You’ve gotta get out-”

“Wendy? Wendy? I can’t hear you.”

“Dipper- It’s not safe-”

The line went dead.

Dipper was a little worried. He grabbed his phone and texted Pacifica.

_’Wendy’s been trying to contact me, but there’s something wrong with the phone.’_

It took Pacifica a few minutes to reply. She was upstairs with Mabel, but Dipper felt like text was the superior form of communication anyway, and stubbornly refused to go up there. He might’ve been a little bitter, but that was only a small part of his avoidance, really.

If he was serious with himself, he’d admit that he just felt hurt that that the two had excluded him.

_‘Is she OK? Do u need her #?’_

Dipper hadn’t even considered that. Jeez.

_‘Yeah, I think so?_

_And yeah, if i could contact her thatd be great’_

Pacifica gave him Wendy’s updated cell number, and he added her as a contact in his phone, then texted her.

_‘hi its dipper_

_U OK?_

_?’_

Hours later, he’d gone back to working, when his phone vibrated on the desk.

_‘yeah im fine kid_

_you and your sister need to gtfo though’_

_‘?’_

_‘dont want to get into it’_

_‘Ok????_

_?_

_U there?’_

_‘yeah sorry_

_Look man its not safe’_

_‘Yeah??? Its gravity falls safety wasn’t really what i was expecting’_

_‘This isnt gnomes’_

_‘y r u being so cryptic_

_Jfc just tell me whats wrong’_

_‘nothing._

_Im fine.’_

_‘really???’_

_‘yeah.’_

Dipper was at a loss. 

_‘well how have you been?’_

_‘fine_

_but seriously kid you need to listen to me_

_just take my word for it’_

_‘youre really freaking me out_

_are you sure youre ok’_

_‘never better’_

_‘How about we meet up_

_Is that ok w/ u?’_

It took her a while to respond.

_‘Yeah. sure.’_

_‘I’ll meet you tomorrow morning at lazy susan’s? 10am?_

_‘Ok_

_Sounds great_

_see you then’_

_‘looking forward to it’_

Dipper sighed and slumped in his seat. He read back through their conversation, and felt his chest tighten.

He tried to work for the rest of the day, but his mind kept wandering to the next morning. Mostly, he was worried for his friend, but he also guiltily enjoyed the rush that came with the promise of another adventure.

* * *

Dipper arrived at Lazy Susan’s Diner at 9:40 am the next day.

While he waited, he ordered coffee and picked up a newspaper somebody had left on the table. “CHILD KILLED, SUSPECT AT LARGE” was printed in large letters across the top. Worried, he started to read, but before he had finished the first sentence, Wendy plopped down in the booth across from him.

“Hey man.” Wendy glanced around herself and drew her coat tighter around her shoulders.

“Wendy, Hi!” Dipper smiled. “What’ve you been up to?”

Wendy sighed and leaned forward. “Half my family was killed in a logging accident.” She deadpanned.

Dipper nervously chuckled.

“I’m serious.” She tilted her chin up. “It was a few years ago, though. I’m getting by.”

That was. A shock. Did Dipper hear that right?

He supposed he had. “Wendy, I’m sorry. We should've been keeping up with you.”

“It’s fine.” It wasn’t fine.

Lazy Susan arrived with their coffee.

“Heya Kidos!” Her midwestern accent was unsettlingly chipper. “So nice to see ‘lil Wendy out and about!” Except it sounded like she’d said ‘oot and aboot’ and Dipper had to take a moment to stifle some entirely inappropriate hysterical laughter.

“Thanks, Lazy Suzan.”

“You betcha, you’re paying me for it! Glad to see you’re back in town, all grown up. You still dealin’ with weird stuff?”

“A little bit, here and there. Yeah.”

“Good, good! Well, you folks let me know if you need anything.”

After Susan had left, Wendy started the conversation back up again.

“I’m serious, though. You need to leave.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to need more than that.”

Wendy glared at him. “You can’t just take my word for it?”

“I’m going to have some kind of explanation for Mabel. And I’m not going to just… leave you here. In a dangerous situation, I mean.”

Wendy stared out the window for a long time before she answered, eyes still fixed on the road.

“I’m moving away next week. I would’ve left months ago, but Soos mentioned you were planning on moving here when you graduated high school.” She looked at him, then. “I had to warn you. I needed to make sure you would be okay. I hope you appreciate that.”

“I’m sorry we lost contact. Mabel and I should’ve been there for you when you lost your family.”

“You can make it up to me by doing what I tell you.”

“Wendy, I can’t leave. You know that.”

Wendy was getting more and more upset.

“No, no. You don't understand. Gravity Falls has _changed,”_ she told him, and how had Dipper missed how desperate, how tired she looked?

There was sweat on her brow, and deep blue bruises underneath her eyes. Her freckles stood out against pale skin, and the hand that kept tapping against her cup seemed to be shaking. 

“When you guys were here before, things were pretty weird, but at least they were _benevolent._ ” She looked around the restaurant, methodically checking the exits and windows. “There are _things_ here now, things I can't tell you about. _”Do you want to know why?”_ Her voice broke, and she choked on a sob. _“They can tell that you're thinking about them._ And then they hunt you down. Reduce your entire life to a mess of paranoia.” She leaned across the table, shoulders hunched. 

Dipper took a moment to remember how strong she was, and everything he'd seen her survive over the years. “What happened, Wendy?” he asked, softly.

“I've seen them _kill_ people, Dipper.” Her fists clenched around her coffee. “Not because they wanted people dead, but because they wanted me to _see._ ” she looked up from her cup, into his eyes. “I'm putting you in danger telling you all this, but you need to understand. You have to take Mabel and _get out._ ”

Dipper reached across the table, holding her hands in his, and moved his thumbs in slow, calming circles. Her bones pushed out against her skin, leaving everything else blue and sallow. “You forgot _‘before its too late,’_ ” he said, and she smiled thinly up at him. “Thank you for telling me,” he started, “but I'm sure you know that there’s no way that I could leave you alone to deal with this.” 

“Well, I’ve got my friends, and my brothers. Oh,” her already weak smile fell as her face dropped, “brother, now.” She pressed their joined hands to her forehead, her fingers tightening. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she croaked, and Dipper’s heart broke.

“Anything that happens is not your fault,” he assured her. “Nothing has been your fault.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha this was so late im sorry u guys  
> but like. school. i gotta work hard and pass my classes so i can make it into community college  
> also this chapter was so short and poorly edited jfc im so sorry
> 
> But I'm trying! I already have most of this fic written, tbh. It's just a matter of finishing the next chapters. *shrug emoji.*  
> (but what that means is that if for some reason i decide to abandon this fic, ill post all my notes and the parts i already have written so you at least know how it ends. its my favorite thing when fic authors do that.)
> 
> If you wanna check out my tumblr its's [moregaymemes](http://moregaymemes.tumblr.com) and I talk about like. star wars and harry potter and Social Justice and also like, art a bunch.
> 
> Like, if u wanna check out what my artsy headcannons are for the Pines kids as they *grow into adulthood* here's [some stuff I tagged specifically for the viewers of this fic](http://moregayart.tumblr.com/tagged/pines-twins) (galactic-florist was my old blog)
> 
> now that im done with that shameless self-promotion
> 
> im sorry that im like, as the narrator, makin life miserable for poor Wendy over there like. That just kind of happened without my consent. Like I have such a big crush on her. I'm not like, trying to get her out of the way or anything. Tbh, close bonds between Wendy and the Pines is like my fav thing.
> 
> this chapter featuring The Rake as a non-explicitly mentioned background character because the Rake is fucking terrifying and I dont want to startle anybody if they go and like, do a google image search or something
> 
> (I personally don't believe in ghosts, the supernatural, life after death, etc. But I love to pretend because it's fun! don't let my cynicism ruin your enjoyment of the fantasy/horror genre. Which, I like to think this fic is. Like, it's gonna have magic in it. and stuff. and like, horror and things about souls. Dipper's gonna have magic around chapter 13. and the Stans'll be here in chapter 10. I promise.)
> 
> And I'm going to update more regularly! Unless I forget. im a bit of a scatterbrain. If I haven't updated in more than a week, go pester my tumblr inbox on anon or something. shoot me a private message if you're comfortable doing that.


	3. Skinwalkers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so like. creepy stuff happens. *shrugs* (also Soos & Melody!!)

Dipper was at Bill’s statue.

This wasn’t the first time he’d come here. He didn’t know what was so calming about the place. The soft light of the sun filtering through the leaves onto all that remained of his once great enemy just melted away his worries, he guessed. It was a good place to think.

Something was up. Something pretty big was up. Now that he thought about it- Earlier, when he was just walking around, dipper saw evidence of it everywhere- there was a boarded up shop every other block, a bad smell in the streets. Even the people slouched like something was sitting on their shoulders, draining the life out of them.

Wendy was leaving. The Corduroys had lived in this town since it was founded, and now the last two descendents- Wendy and her youngest brother- were relocating, away from their home, friends and history. That was a big deal.

What Wendy had said was true, too- the Gravity Falls that Dipper was familiar with was benign. Sure, scary things happened. But in the end, they turned out harmless. One of the paranormal occupants of the area killing someone was unprecedented. Dipper still felt like the rest of the corduroys would miraculously turn up kidnapped in a cave somewhere or something.

Wendy didn’t think that was funny.

Not to mention the guy Pacifica and Dipper had run into. That was some fucked up shit, man.

So Dipper sat next to Bill’s eye, seat cushioned by moss, stared at the sunbeams shining down on the statue’s outstretched hand, and mused over the new information.

* * *

It was on his way home that day that Dipper got another call.

“Hey Soos, what’s up?”

“This is Melody.”

“Ok.”

“Dipper, I need you to come to the Mystery Shack. There’s an emergency, I think.”

“What’s going on?”

“We’ve just closed up, but I think someone’s trying to get in.”

Dipper nodded to himself. “I’m on my way there.” He changed his route.

He arrived ten minutes later, pulling into the driveway. Stepping up to the door, he knocked softly and called out. “Melody, it’s Dipper Pines.”

There were metallic clicking noises that Dipper recognised as locks. Melody opened the door, and glanced into the treeline behind him. “Come in.” Stan was playing with a plastic toy, resting on Melody’s hip.

Dipper walked in. “So, are they gone now?”

“I’m not sure.” Melody’s unkempt appearance of a new mother was happy and exciting when Dipper had seen her the other day, but now she just looked tired and worried.

Dipper nodded. “What happened?”

“Well, the other day, I thought I heard noises downstairs, and Soos went down he said there was a window open. We decided it was just the breeze, or a squirrel got in or something, so we laughed about it. The next night, though, when Soos was asleep in bed with Stan, I went to go around the house and make sure everything was locked up. Because, you know, you don’t want raccoons in your house.”

Dipper started to play the ‘paranormal investigator’ role he was known for in Gravity Falls. “What did you see?”

“There was… something at the window. I went around a second time to check the locks, and I was turning off the light as I left the room, and-” She took a deep breath and hugged Stan closer. “There was a face. On the other side, pressed up against the glass. When the reflection of the light on the glass was gone, I could see it.” She shuddered.

“Fuck. Sorry,” Dipper shook his head. He shouldn’t swear in front of the baby. “That sounds pretty frightening. You were very brave.”

“Um. Thanks,” Melody nodded. “It was a person, but like- the eyes were just dark pits. When it noticed me looking at it, it nodded, turned, and walked into the treeline. But like- it seemed to degenerate as it walked. By the time it was in the forest, it was on all fours.” She fidgeted. “I was frozen to the spot. I had to yell for Soos to come and calm me down.”

“Yeah, well, I would’ve pissed myself. You did a good job handling the situation.”

“Thanks. But that’s not all.”

Dipper waited, but Melody didn’t speak. She just stared down at her fidgeting hands.

“... it wasn’t?” He prompted.

“I’ve been seeing it everywhere since. I’ve been having nightmares. Soos and I both hear noises outside the house, especially at night. More than usual, I mean.” She looked up from her hands and into Dipper’s eyes. “Sometimes there’ll be a knock at the window, or the door. Loud and aggressive, and it won’t let up until we go to open it, but no one’ll be there.”

“Sounds like you have a problem.”

“Yep.”

Dipper thought for a moment. “Do you mind if I stay overnight?”

“Not at all,” Melody replied.

“...Do you mind if I bring a few other people here with me?”

“...I guess not.” She smiled at him, the skin of her lips pulling taut across her buck teeth. Her eyes twinkled. “You have our full trust, Dipper.”

* * *

“You know, when I said you could bring a few people, I was picturing like, one or two. Maybe five at most.”

Dipper surveyed the crowded room. “Hey, you trust me, don’t you?” He shot Melody a wink, then noticed Robbie fiddling with a stuffed bear-fish, and went over to intervene. “Hey man, be careful with that!”

The room was filled with people, each person an acquaintance Dipper had made throughout the years. He didn’t charge for his supernatural expertise, so enough people considered themselves in his debt to help out when he asked for it.

Safety in Numbers, was the idea. Dipper didn’t know what he was dealing with. If he was honest with himself, he was probably out of his league. If he didn’t have backup on this one (lots of backup, ideally), there was a pretty high chance that something terrible, possibly even life threatening could happen to him or the Ramirez’s. Which was, you know. Bad.

At least this way, Tamry could record his death on her retro flip-phone to be analysed by his predecessors.

“Can you keep all these people quiet enough for the baby to sleep?” Mabel called out over the crowd.

“Maybe?” Dipper called back. “Alright Mabel, we need eleven sleeping bags!” He wasn’t going to ask anyone to stay awake all night, of course.

“Cool beans!” Mabel propped open the door and went out to the car to grab the sleeping bags, blankets and pillows.

Meanwhile, Dipper walked over to where Melody was wrapped up in a blanket, staring out at the people invading the ground floor of the Mystery Shack. “I’ll try and keep everyone semi-quiet. Scream if anything happens and I’ll be there immediately. You should be able to sleep. You’re all going to be safe.”

Melody yawned. “Thanks Dipper.” She started to walk up the stairs.

A cool breeze on the back of Dipper’s neck made him shiver. He turned around and looked as Mabel came through the open door with the first load of soft warm things.

“How many people am I going to have to bring this stuff in for?” She started a pile in the corner of the room.

“Um…” Dipper forgot how many people there were. He re-counted the bodies in the room. “We need enough for twelve people,” he told her.

“Tyler, can you go help Mabel unpack the car?” Tyler Cutebiker and Mabel left.

“Ok-ay, listen up everybody!” Dipper called. “I’d like to thank you all for coming out tonight! As promised, chocolate chip pancakes will be served in the morning. I’m planning on staying up all night, and every hour we’re going to trade off to the next person on the list to help me on watch.” 

Dipper surveyed the room. So far, everyone seemed okay, so he continued. “We’ve got a paper with everybody’s names on it, and we’ll wake you up when it’s your turn. Otherwise, y’all can do what you want. Just try and keep quiet so people can sleep.”

People nodded and dispersed, grabbing blankets and cushions from the steadily growing pile. Dipper went and sat in the corner where he could see everything, pulling a blanket around his shoulders.

* * *

It was two in the morning, and Dipper was returning to the room after getting a glass of water from the kitchen.

He settled into his chair and looked around the room. There was a disturbingly empty bedspread in the far corner, closest to the door. Panicking, Dipper counted everyone.

Dipper counted again. There were eleven heads. “Someone’s gone!” He shouted. “Everyone look around! Who are we missing?”

Nate roused from his position resting against the wall next to Dipper, lifting his head off of Lee’s shoulder. It was his turn to be on watch with Dipper, but he’d apparently fallen asleep.

Everyone scrambled to take roll. Dipper read off the list.

“Lazy Susan?”

“Here!”

“Bats Biker?”

“Here!”

After ten minutes, they determined that everyone on the list was there. Dipper counted again: Still eleven.

“Did anyone bring someone else with them?”

A chorus of scattered no’s rang out.

Dipper sent Mabel up to check on Melody and Soos.

“Who slept over there?” He pointed towards the spread next to the blankets Dipper had first noticed to be empty.

“I did?” Thompson raised a shaky hand. He’d been mostly quiet until now.

“Do you know who slept next to you?” Dipper walked over to him, carefully maneuvering himself over the people huddling in their blankets against the chill.

“I don’t know,” Thompson replied. “I- I mean, I could pick him out of a lineup. But I don’t know who they were, personally.”

Dipper was concerned. “Do you know everyone else here?”

“Yeah.”

Dipper went and got the clipboard and showed it to him. “Are there any names you don’t recognise?” Dipper felt like his skin was buzzing.

Thompson read over the list of names. “Uh. No.”

“Okay, so he wasn’t on the list. Can you tell me anything about him?”

“Um. He had dark hair.” Dipper noticed that Thompson seemed to be in a cold sweat, and looked exhausted. He wondered if he’d gotten any sleep. “He wasn’t very fond of blinking, I guess?”

“Anything else? How was he dressed?”

“Just, um. Just a t-shirt and shorts. He was, um. Dipper, he really scared me.”

“Hey, man.” Dipper motioned Nate, Lee, Tamry and Robbie over from where they were watching. “What do you mean?”

“I tried to talk to him, but he was quiet the whole time. He just kind of, stared at me. And smiled really big.”

That’s when Dipper noticed the open window. He didn’t know why he took so long, what with the room so cold.

“I think I know who you’re talking about. When I went up to go to the bathroom, he just kind of stared at me,” Tamry supplied.

Dipper collapsed in his chair. “This doesn’t make any sense,” he said, almost to himself. “The Shack’s weird-barrier should keep anything malevolent out.”

That’s when Mabel came back down the stairs. She glanced around at everyone, before walking over to Dipper. She put her hand on his arm. “Um, Dipper,” she spoke under her breath, so that only he could hear. “I need you to come with me. Right now.” Her face was stark white.

Slowly and quietly, Dipper and Mabel climbed the stairs. Dipper felt his heart skip when she lead him to the nursery. Flashes of “SIDS” pamphlets from a highschool nursing class made his breath stutter.

Mabel pulled him over to the crib. Dipper let out a sigh of relief when it looked like the baby was ok, watching his tiny chest languidly move up and down, his hand in his mouth.

Then Mabel turned the flashlight on her phone on, and Dipper saw why there was cause for concern.

Drawn in black with what looked like charcoal, there was an almost photorealistic skull carefully illustrated on the baby’s protruding stomach.

“Mabel, can you go get Melody and Soos please.” Dipper said softly. “I’ll stay here with Stan.”

As Mabel and her flashlight left the room, Dipper saw a face at the two-story window. As he watched, the whites of the eyes were consumed by black. The man at the window smiled and nodded, then turned and jumped off the window ledge. Dipper thought he saw a mangy dog retreat into the treeline.

Below him in the crib, Stan woke up and started crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna check out my tumblr its's [moregaymemes](http://moregaymemes.tumblr.com) and I talk about like. star wars and harry potter and Social Justice and also like, art a bunch.
> 
> Like, if u wanna check out what my artsy headcannons are for the Pines kids as they *grow into adulthood* here's [some stuff I tagged specifically for the viewers of this fic](http://moregayart.tumblr.com/tagged/pines-twins) (galactic-florist was my old blog)
> 
> now that im done with that shameless self-promotion
> 
> This chapter was fun. Overal higher quality than last chapter but last chapter was a mess so
> 
> bill comes in Chapter 5. Well, technically ch6 but whateveeeer
> 
> also like. lots of plot shit happens in chapter 6 im workin hard to write my way to it
> 
> but im also behind in my classes soooooo like
> 
> im trying i swear


	4. The Hitchiker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So like, some stuff about world mechanics in this one. I'm really excited for the chapter after this, I'm already halfway through it.

Soos and Melody were appropriately freaked out by a strange scary dude threatening the safety of their kid. Soos especially was in near hysterics. It didn’t take much for Dipper to convince them to take some of McGucket’s money and go on a three-month-long vacation. By five o’clock AM, they were speeding off in the family bandwagon. They still trusted him.

Luckily, the only person blaming Dipper for the lapse in security was himself.

Seriously, fuck that guy.

No one who attended the sleepover knew the specifics. Most knew that the shack’s security could be compromised, based off Thompson and word-of-mouth.

After Mabel cheerily made chocolate pancakes for everyone in the morning, they dispersed, muttering amongst themselves. As the last person left through the gift shop, Dipper saw Mabel’s smile fall.

She finished washing the dishes, then walked over to the table and plopped herself down next to where dipper had been reviewing his notes on the shack’s magic unicorn defenses.

Groaning, she rubbed her face with her hands. “So this sucks.”

Dipper made a noise of agreement.

She brought her knees up to her chest and folded her arms over them. “What’s the plan, Dip-dop?”

“Well, first I have to figure out how he got in,” Dipper replied absently, flipping through the papers in front of him, trying to make connections. “That seems like a good place to start.”

“What’re your best leads so far?”

“Well, for one thing, there are different classifications for magic.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I mean, besides elementals. Most everything I know about this shack’s defence, after we re-did the spell after the ‘Nevermind All That’ incident, comes from stuff Ford casually mentioned the first time around.” 

“Are you worried we didn’t copy it well enough?”

“No, we got it exactly, I’m sure.” He wasn’t sure, but he figured it was a healthy self-doubt of his own abilities. He’d followed Ford’s instructions to the letter. Sighing, he brought up his “Ford-Quotes: Wards” page and showed it to Mabel.

“He said it was ‘meant to keep the weird out?’” Mabel read, pointing to the sentence.

“Yeah, that’s where I’m confused. ‘Weird’ is subjective. At the time, I’d assumed he was talking about magic in general. But looking back, in context, a ward specific against Bill-type magic could’ve made more sense.”

Mabel started looking through his notes. “Explain to me the classifications.”

Dipper groaned. “I’m trying,” he whined. “I’ve barely got them myself. For most things, I can look at Ford-related research as a place to start. But all of Ford’s work on this subject is practically nonsensical.”

Mabel looked up. “Is it in code?”

“I wish, that would be easy.” He showed her a copy of a journal page. “He’s trying to explain the magic in as scientific a way as possible.”

“Normally you love that sort of thing.”

Dipper rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because it’s cool. I mean, it makes it harder, but it’s easier to brag about.” He shot his sister a grin.

“Why is it causing a problem here?”

“Because he’s using terms he’s invented himself, and trying to make his reports mimic something in, say, the field of biology. Which works for him, I guess,” Dipper shrugged, “but normally I can cross-check his invented terms and unprecedented science with historical accounts and mythology to paint the full picture.” Dipper motioned to his laptop, which was displaying scans of ancient texts.

“Well, yeah. Grunkle Ford has always felt safer with things neatly quantified.”

“But Mabel,” Dipper whined, “he’s trying to build an entirely new field of study from the ground up, and most of his notes are only meant for him to see, so they include all kinds of shorthands and references that don’t make sense. Look at this.” Dipper pointed to a scan from a journal page, with ‘s- red bk’ scribbled in the margin. “‘See Red Book?’ Do you know how many ancient texts with red covers I know of? How am I supposed to tell what he’s talking about?”

“You could message him.”

All the fight drained out of Dipper’s posture. “But, I don’t want to,” he pouted.

“What was that?” Mabel was teasing him. The nerve.

“I’m worried he’s going to be all, ‘Oh, it’s this incredibly simple thing, did you really have to waste my time with this? I’ll have you know that I’m incredibly busy catching fish and trying to make up for abandoning my brother all those years ago by leaving him to literal sharks instead of figurative ones this time!’”

Mabel was giggling, so Dipper counted that as a win.

“Did you know that he’s actually no fun to play D&D&D with? He’s one of those annoying mages who only plays for powerful items by citing obscure spells. He doesn’t even care about the narrative, I tell you.”

“Dipper, where’s all this animosity coming from?”

“His annoying bookkeeping!” Dipper fell back in his chair. “He’s more organised than I am, but he’s lazy about it!”

“Okay, so. Even with Great Uncle Stanford’s annoying notes, what do we know about the different kinds of magic.”

“Okay, this is all from mythological text, because I haven’t found anything definitive from Ford’s notes.” Dipper pulled a notebook in front of them and flipped to a sticky note bookmark. “Magic is, by definition, chaotic. At least, that’s what I thought.” He showed Mabel some diagrams.

“You think that we think that magic is chaotic because our only sample is Gravity Falls.”

“Well, yeah.” He pulled out some maps. “When we look for magic, we look for what we think of as Gravity Falls magic. You know, what ford calls ‘Anomalies.’” He pointed to one with red dots, with the dots getting more and more frequent the closer they got to oregon.

Then he brought out a map with blue dots, and continued speaking. “But like, we’ve got hardly any ghosts in Gravity Falls, only one that we know of. But here’s a map of ‘anomalies’ only involving dead things- ghosts, zombies, the like.” The blue dots were centred around someplace in western China.

Finally, he brought out a third map, with green dots focused around an island in the southern Atlantic. “This map is just the sources for all my texts involving rituals. Anything that needs a conduit other than a person, like to light a candle or draw something.” He lay the three maps out.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve done a lot of work on this, Dip-dop.”

“Um, yeah. I guess.”

“D’you think- hm.”

“What is it?”

“I think, if you put each of these locations on a globe, you’d find that they are all as far as they could possibly be from each other.”

“You mean like a nucleus with three electrons?”

“That’s exactly what I mean, Dipper.”

They tried it out, and it worked.

“So…” Dipper started, balancing his pen on his upper lip. “Does this mean magic repels magic, like with negative charges?”

“No,” Mabel responded, from where she was upside-down on the couch. “Even electrons exist in fields. They don’t necessarily… concentrate in one point.”

“Yeah, but like. Does each kind of magic repel the other two?” The pen fell off.

Mabel hummed. “Probably. But they have to work together, or- I don’t know. The classifications are still really vague.”

“Yeah, I don’t really have what sets them apart, either. Like, what about a zombie gnome? What would that count as?”

“Do we know if there’s ever been a zombie gnome?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“Do you think there’s a rock-paper-scissors sort of deal?” Dipper was sunk so low in his chair he could feel his future back problems.

“This has the potential to be pretty important, but we’re not really getting anywhere,” said Mabel, standing up and grabbing her coat and keys.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to go and check on Pacifica, see if she’s alright. I should be back in like, ten minutes.”

“Fair enough. I’ll keep at it here. You know, alone. Where the scary dog-man can eat me. Hey, d’you think he was a werewolf?”

Mabel stopped halfway out the door. “Skinwalker. Think twilight vampires’ powers but minus the sparkling and plus shape-shifting and, in most stories, a lot ‘o bloodlust.” She paused. “Check in with me every five minutes, please.” And then she was gone, and Dipper heard the car start up and peel out of the driveway.

“Thanks for leaving me the getaway car!” He called out.

He became aware of a clock ticking. He started to match it so every second had two bounces of his pen. Click, click. Click, click. He sent Mabel a check-in text.

“I should probably get to work,” he intoned, to himself, casually checking every window in his line of sight for terrifying, terrifying dark eyes.

The room was a bit darker than earlier, the natural lighting quickly fading as twilight grew closer. The time, twilight. Not the terrible book series with christian undertones that Dipper had completed in one day. It had taken Mabel two days, and Dipper was a might bit competitive as a ten-year-old. He sent Mabel another check-in text.

Dipper figured he should be doing something other than staring blankly at the papers in front of him, so he sent emails to his grunkles and McGucket about what was going on, asking for advice.

His head filled with scenarios of walking upstairs to find the mangy man-dog thing in the closet and being like ‘okay, sorry, I’ll give you my full attention in a minute, I just gotta have this panic attack and then I’ll get back to defending myself. Oh no, would you look at that. You’ve stabbed me. How rude.’

His phone dinged. That was the fifth check-in text, now.

Getting to his feet, Dipper made a decision. “Yeah, there’s no fucking way I’m staying here tonight.” He was going to run, like the coward he was. “I’m not getting anything done, anyway.” He nodded and started packing his notes and books into his bag. “Good to know this empty room has heard and accepted my excuses.”

Before he left, he went through the drawers in the kitchen. “Score.” He’d found pepper spray and a heavy flashlight. He stored each in his bag and went out the door.

He started down the path, eyes on the treeline. The sky was turning from light-blue grey to magenta. “Blood has been spilled this day,” Dipper muttered to himself, trying to keep his own spirit chipper. He sent Mabel a text, saying he was walking to the town.

A branch broke, and Dipper nearly had a heart attack before he realised his foot was the one that broke it.

As the sky grew darker, and Dipper sauntered on, he began to fantasize about Mabel driving up the road to get him. “Oh Mabel,” he said under his breath, gaze still darting around the treeline. “Good to know Pacifica’s doing well. Thank you for coming back after only forty minutes, which is still thirty minutes more than you said, but I forgive you because I love you and our friendship means a lot to me.” 

He swore he just heard breathing in the bushes by the treeline ten feet to his left. He started walking faster, his voice speeding up with his breathing. “Oh, me? No, I’m fine, I wasn’t worried, I wasn’t in any danger at all, certainly not about to be eaten, or murdered for other nefarious and unknown reasons-”

The lights of the town ahead of him were growing closer quickly, he was almost safe, which also meant that this was anything that was following him’s last chance to grab him and drag him off into the night-

Dipper broke into the warmth of the streetlights along relatively-busy Main Street. He was safe. He laughed joyfully, and caught his breath, but was interrupted by his phone ringing. 

He picked up.

“Hello, is this Dipper Pines?”

“Yeah?”

“This is Grant County community hospital, I have you listed as Mabel Pine’s emergency contact?”

Dipper felt the blood drain from his face. He swallowed. “That would be me, yeah.”

“Mr. Pines, I would like to ask you to come down here while we evaluate your sister’s condition.”

* * *

Barely five minutes later, Dipper was in a taxi on his way to the county hospital, calling Pacifica to let her know that Mabel was in trouble.

When he arrived, They informed him that Mabel was stable, but she hadn’t woken up yet. They said she’d been in a car crash, and had a broken arm and a head wound, a probable concussion. Dipper and the doctors were really, really worried about that.

Dipper filled Pacifica in when she arrived.

They sat quietly.

“Dipper, something’s going on lately.” Pacifica spoke while they waited for the nurses to let them into Mabel’s room.

“I know, I’ve been looking into it.”

“People are scared, Dipper. Did you hear about the McKinnley kids?”

Dipper shook his head. “No. I don’t know the McKinnleys.”

“Last month, three siblings just disappeared off the street on their way home. They walk busy streets, too. Everyone’s terrified.”

“Especially the McKinnley’s, I bet.”

“Things happening to kids scares everybody, Dipper,” Pacifica said. “It’s much worse than hearing some stranger got hurt while walking home through dark alleys at night, or something.”

The door in front of them opened.

“Okay, she’s stable and awake. You two can come in-”

Pacifica pushed past him before he’d stopped talking. Dipper followed soon after.

Pacifica probably would’ve taken a flying leap onto the bed, but she visibly calmed herself before rushing over to Mabel’s bedside.

Dipper stayed by the door, and watched.

Mabel and Pacifica really cared about each other. It was obvious in the way they talked- their inside jokes, how each person relaxed in the other’s presence.

Eventually Mabel acknowledged him, raising her uninjured arm in greeting. Dipper waved back, then let her continue her conversation with Pacifica. After a moment, he walked out of the room. He could hear their laughter as he made his way down the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who got pneumonia and is now ready to die! this guy!!!  
> nah im ok. alls good, i just got a lot of work to make up mostly  
> almost done with the next chapter, Im gonna post it early  
> ttyl soon i guesssss


	5. People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short but character-y  
> the chapter after this one is going to be a doozy to write, I think. But it'll be fun.  
> Almost Bill but not quite. Almost there. So close.

Mabel Pines and Dipper Pines were best friends. Not only did they care a great deal for each other, they cared more about each other than any other person in the world. At least, that’s how Dipper interpreted it.

Not that it’s recommended or healthy to rank your relationships. You can describe them, though. ‘Codependent’ would be an accurate description of the relationship between Dipper Pines and his sister.

Dipper knows this. He became painfully aware of it at age fifteen when, after waving Mabel out the door on a Friday night, he looked around himself and realised he had no friends. All he had was Mabel, who had an active and glittery social life with her own group of misfits.

He’d been doing his best to cope with that since then.

Since his disconcerting realisation, Dipper had branched out, and made a few acquaintances at his school and work. Still, three years later, there was no one worth saying goodbye to when he moved out of state.

One of his self-defining traits was that he was lonely. He tended to be stilted and awkward, especially around new people. He tried his best, which might be his problem. He probably came off as whiny and clingy.

Meanwhile, he and Mabel were growing apart. That was natural for siblings, he supposed. It’d been going on for several years, and with every new friend of her’s he met, every new person spending time with Mabel, he got more scared. He loved his sister, and wanted her to be happy, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Dipper was a potted plant Mabel was forgetting to water more and more often.

Dipper was so, so afraid of losing Mabel. At the end of it, the final straw would probably be his doing. He just fucks stuff up that often. Especially with his sister.

Seeing Pacifica become such good friends with Mabel, so quickly- he was jealous.

Maybe he just needed to get out more?

Dipper tossed a stone back and forth between his hands. He was sitting underneath Bill’s statue again. It really was a good place to think. He’d been there for hours.

It was getting dark fast, though.

The green and yellow tones of the forest were melting into blues and greys. Mist was rolling in from the hills.

Meanwhile, Dipper sat, twiddling his thumbs, and started to realise that being alone in the woods wasn’t the best idea. It felt like ever since he got off the bus a week ago he was being watched. Even now, he could swear he saw flashes of movement out of the corner of his eye.

What the hell was he doing, anyway? What was his plan? People’s lives were in danger.

Wendy was talking about people dying. And then Pacifica, too. Gravity Falls was a small town. More than a Death a year was supposed to be unheard of. Certainly not murder.

Dipper had gone to the police station earlier today to see what was going on. Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland had come out of retirement to help the police force, which was entirely swamped. Dipper managed to get five minutes with someone, and from what he could gather, crime was far past the highest it had ever been, without even a single indictment.

They could never find anyone responsible for the crimes. Whether it was murder, stalking, or noise complaints, the perpetrators always managed to flee the scene before the cops arrived.

So, Dipper reasoned, it was probably supernatural. He went around and questioned witnesses. From what they got out of them, each case was different. The only consistency between them was that they were terrified, and in most cases, people said that they were facing humanoids.

Though they did talk about wide smiles and empty eyes a lot- Dipper thought that there could be some kind of skinwalker nest or something. But he searched through all of his texts, and couldn’t find any weaknesses at all. If there was a nest, Dipper couldn’t do anything about it.

Dipper didn’t know how to proceed. He’d sent the Grunkles and McGucket more emails, but they were off adventuring and hadn’t responded to anything. Not that Dipper expected them to.

Dipper leaned back against Bill’s statue. Most of it was covered in moss. It was surprisingly comfortable. It was still an incredibly accurate caricature, with Statue Bill holding out one hand, as if to make a deal-

Huh.

The rift had been destroyed. There was no way Bill could travel to this dimension anyway. Even if he did, the Weirdness Magnetism Effect still held true. Grunkle Ford wasn’t anywhere near. The worst that could happen is Gravity Falls gets messed with, and it’s not like the town’s been doing too well lately anyway-

No, no. Dipper couldn’t talk himself into this. Bill Cipher’s potentially infinite capacity for knowledge was not worth the risk. No matter how Dipper thought. Mabel was here. Mabel might be put into danger.

But Mabel was already in Danger, wasn’t she. Along with a lot of other people. And Dipper couldn’t do anything to help them. Just this one thing. This one, really, really bad idea.

It might not even work. In fact, it probably wouldn’t. Bill was supposed to be dead. Dipper was almost sure he was, even.

Still, eyeing the shadows in the forest around him, Dipper rose to his feet.

Fuck it.

He thought for a moment. Bill wasn’t forced to honor deals, that he knew. Bill was as obligated to honor a contract than a conglomerate with a good legal team. Probably less, even.

He knew that Bill needed permission to possess someone. He thought he would need someone’s permission to get into their head, but he’d been able to enter Stan’s mindscape with Gideon’s permission. But he’d still needed Gideon’s permission, probably. Damn.

He was just going to go for it, and hope he didn’t screw it up too bad. It’s not like it would even work, anyway.

Back straight, Dipper faced the statue. “In exchange for information, no conspiracy being intentionally concocted against relatively innocent persons, and all help within a reasonable amount of your power, as well as access to any knowledge which could help myself or others, especially in regards of increasing safety, I grant you access to my mindscape, and the mindscape as a whole.”

See, he knew that deals with bill were Bad. Now, though, he wasn't just on some quest for knowledge. Mabel was in danger. Lives were at risk. Taking a deep breath, he held out his hand.

For a moment, though it could've been nothing more than a trick of the light from the darkening sunset, the air around Dipper's hand seemed to flare blue. 

And then the moment passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short af
> 
> If you wanna check out my tumblr its's [moregaymemes](http://moregaymemes.tumblr.com) and I talk about like. star wars and harry potter and Social Justice and also like, art a bunch.
> 
> Like, if u wanna check out what my artsy headcannons are for the Pines kids as they *grow into adulthood* here's [some stuff I tagged specifically for the viewers of this fic](http://moregayart.tumblr.com/tagged/pines-twins) (galactic-florist was my old blog)
> 
> now that im done with that shameless self-promotion
> 
> Happy Birthday, I updated twice on one day.
> 
> Bill's gonna feature pretty heavily in the next chapter, so look forward to that????
> 
> I have so much homework I should be working on probably hahahahahahaah lmao


	6. Timore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look. it's bill. and like, the introduction of a pretty important antagonist!
> 
> good shit m8

Suddenly, Dipper was surrounded. Just as the sun fell behind the horizon and the world faded into darkness, spindly white creatures appeared in the clearing, walking through the mist. 

They varied in size between insects and elephants, but all were grotesque messes of random limbs and features covered in gossamer, the larger ones ornately decorated in bones- some obviously animal, some frighteningly human- which chimed as they moved in awkward meanders through the forest. 

_“Don't let them know you can see them,”_ a disturbingly familiar voice seemed to whisper in his ear, sending shivers down his spine.

He looked around frantically.

_”Jesus, Kid, you’re going to get yourself killed.”_

Dipper shouted and fell on his ass, scooting back against the statue. One of the creatures the size of a dog seemed to take an interest, sniffing about as it made it’s way.

_”If you want to make it out of these woods alive, fleshsack, then you had better start listening to me.”_

Dipper felt his heart thud against his ribcage. White spiders began to swarm him, wrapping around his arms and legs. The large dog one was coming closer- it had a canine’s skull as a mask which hid it’s face in shadow, and it meandered close to him on four sinewy legs that looked like a starving person’s arms. It’s ribs protruded and it limped, and as it grew closer, Dipper could smell something foul wafting off it’s skin like a corpse.

Now it was only five feet away from him, and he shut his eyes.

_”You have to look at it. Or like- look through it, I mean. Pretend you don’t see them.”_

Dipper was breathing fast. He opened his eyes and tried to make it look like he was fixating on the horizon.

That was hard to do though, now that he was inches away from the two dark pits of the bleached skull, and the creature had stopped sniffing and had opened it’s mouth, and Dipper smelt the decay before it inhaled as it moved closer-

Dipper scrunched his eyes shut and felt warm, putrid air blow over his face. He was terrified.

When, suddenly, relief and exhaustion washed over him in a pleasant wave, and he leaned back against the moss and pleasantly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Dipper was eating mango sorbet on the beach an hour from his house.

He liked going here when things got too much. Most of the people who ran the storefront knew him. Today was sunny, and the tide was up, so the rotting-fish smell wasn’t as strong as it could be. He sat on a log, felt the sun warm his skin, listened to the waves crashing against the shore, and took another bite of ice cream.

He didn’t think he’d ever been so relaxed in his life.

Someone he hadn’t seen before was walking towards his log, which was making him anxious. Then they got closer, and Dipper settled down a bit. It was some guy his age, wearing a hipster illuminati tank top and short shorts.

“Mind if I sit down?”

“Uh. Sure.” Dipper moved his shoes and socks to his other side, making room.

“What’s your name?”

“Uh. Dipper.” Dipper avoided eye contact and ate a bit of ice cream.

“Wanna play, kid?” The guy asked, holding up a red frisbee, and- When had he gotten that?

“I’d rather not, sorry.” Dipper kept eating his ice cream.

“You sure?”

Dipper finished the last of his ice cream. “I’m not too good at sports.”

“I’m okay with that. Tell you what,” Dipper wondered why he looked so smug, “I’ll buy you another ice cream if you play with me for fifteen minutes.”

Why was Dipper getting an ‘heir to a used car dealership conglomerate’ feel from this guy?

Dipper looked down at his empty paper bowl. “Uh, sure. You know what? Fine. I can do that.”

So he and Random Handsome Guy threw the frisbee back and forth for a while, talking while they did. Normally Dipper would feel self-conscious, but when the guy chuckled when Dipper dropped it for the third time in a row, he wasn’t mean about it, and Dipper started to feel comfortable around him. Which wasn’t something he felt with much of anybody, really.

Then he slipped in the sand, and a bit of glass cut his foot open.

Dipper fell to the ground, and examined the wound. “Ow, _fuck._ ”

The other guy ran over. “Damn, are you okay? Here,” He gently took Dipper’s foot and looked at it. “Wow, you have some pretty deep-seated psychological issues. You got yourself hurt when there’s literally no reason to.” he said, which was weird, but Dipper ignored it because he was still somehow enjoying himself. The young hipster started cleaning out the cut, then bandaging the wound, and- where had that come from, anyway?

He worked at it, intently focused, and the sun behind him caught in his bleached off-white hair and made it glow orange, like a halo. He looked up when he finished. “All good?”

Dipper nodded his head. “I’m ok. I’ve had worse.”

That was funny, for some reason. The guy broke down laughing, and it sounded hysterical, but also, like. Familiar. 

And where did the train tracks go? And the ocean wasn’t making noise anymore. It was a sunny day, but they were the only two there.

It felt like the world was starting to fade around him.

What happened to his ice cream cup? There should be an old pier a few dozen yards down the shoreline. And who-

“...Aaaaand he’s lucid!” The guy from before was grinning wide. “Jig’s up. I was just trying not to startle you, for the record. Your welcome for the relaxing dream.”

Suddenly, his foot was fine. The beach was gone, replaced with a white void, and in his friend’s place stood Bill Cipher, triangular menace.

Dipper stood up.

“Why would you trick me like that?”

Bill shrugged. “This is your mind. I can’t harm you in here. You already know, right? You’re the one in charge.”

“Why would you tell me?”

“Part of the deal.”

“I know you can break the deal all you want, so long as I don’t catch you.”

“You got me there.” Bill spread his arms and sighed dramatically. “But I’m at your mercy! Which is hell, for me, by the way. You can re-banish me from existence with a thought. Not really a situation I like to be in, but, y’know, I like existing. It can be fun sometimes.”

Dipper knew that Bill was ambitious. Scarily ambitious. He’d have some kind of master plan in the works as long as he was alive. Dipper was wondering how he was going to be able to deal with this.

“What happened? What’s going on, in- like- the real world?”

“I calmed you down and knocked you out. Skull-face got bored and wandered off when you stopped being tasty. Right now you’re peacefully snoozing against the last remnant of my awesome reign.”

Dipper was a little relieved. But- “Yeah, how did you do that, exactly?”

“I can convince your brain to fire up certain glands and whatever if I really need to. Not that I normally would. I’m kind of morally opposed to it. Even I have standards. I mean, not that your free will isn’t already an illusion propagated by a shadow government controlled by unfeeling capitalists, but I like to think that even I’m better than them.”

“Okay, that’s a bit hard to believe.”

Bill drifted closer. “I just saved your life, you little _worm_ , be grateful. Speaking of-”

Bill snapped his fingers and the creature from before appeared, absolutely still, about twenty feet from them.

Placing one hand on his not-hip, Bill pointed to the creature with the other. “What’d you do to draw in _these_ pieces of work? Kidding, I already know the answer. You miserable ants forgot to check if the portal was closed! You just assumed that it was all taken care of. Your uncles’ boat isn’t the only thing with a few leaks, kid.”

Dipper nodded. _This_ was why he needed Bill. “What are we up against?”

Bill grew in size, and the white void darkened to black. “The Timore.” Thunder clashed.

Then, everything was back the way it was a few seconds ago.

“I forgot how dramatic you were. Can you offer more explanation?”

“I have to, bucko! I am literally forced to, par our deal, or suffer pain of non-existence!” He seemed more manic than upset. “They’re from another dimension, like I said. Most dimensions, really. Their original, plus a whooole bundle of others that once held life.”

“ _Once_ held life? Are we in danger?”

“Of course! Didn’t you see all those bones?” Bill started to sing in a terrible italian accent. “When the moon stabs your eye, and your friends start to die, thaaat’s timore!”

“We can do something, though, right?”

Bill shrugged. “They were intelligent and organised, once. I think that most of them have just forgot everything but carnage, at this point. Maybe following orders. By the way, you only see them because I let you. No one else knows they’re there. To be honest, I don’t know what they’d do to you if they found out their cover was blown.”

“But what can we do? What do _they_ do?”

“As I previously alluded, they survive off fear! They basically torture people for food. The more deep-seated the emotional trauma, the more power they consume!”

Dipper thought for a moment. “Are they confined by the WME?”

“Hah, the what?”

“The thing that kept you in gravity falls last time you were alive.”

Bill glared at him. “Yeah. I think so. I’m reasonably sure.”

Dipper crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. This was someone he didn’t need to feel guilty about needing information from. “Explain,” he ordered.

“Okay, okay! Me and them share some… commonalities.”

“Like?”

“Give me a sec, I’m trying to think of how to explain this so you’ll understand.” Bill tapped where his chin would be.

Dipper felt a cold fury at the condescension. “You and them both have chaotic-based magic, right?”

Bill looked genuinely surprised, that dick. At least as surprised as a triangle could be. “Sure, we’ll call it that! Bingo! I gotta say, I’m impressed!”

“What did I miss.”

Bill seemed to shrink. “Uh…”

“Elaborate.” Dipper could un-imagine him if he needed to, he was sure.

“Fine! This is pretty personal though, so don’t go spreading it around!”

Dipper raised his eyebrows.

“I’m not.. _Just_ chaotic magic. I’m a mixture of chaotic and structured.”

“Clarify ‘structured.’”

“The orderly, logical stuff. Runes and chemistry. Addition. I have to be. Otherwise I wouldn’t be so _geometrical,_ ” he gestured to his triangular form, “And I would slowly becoming more and more… broken. Fragmented. If I didn’t have a regimented structure keeping my existence in place. That’s how I did so well in my old dimension, you know,” he started, leaning back, sticking his ‘hands’ behind his ‘head’ and crossing his ‘legs,’ “I was the only ‘fella around who was cleanly and explicitly structured. Just about everyone else were loose concepts, trying to grasp at solidity.”

“Cool. So, how should I proceed?”

“Wake up. Pretend you don’t see the monsters. Walk back to the mystery shack. You’re still living there, I assume, if you’re here? I’ve been… dormant, the last few years. I don’t know much of what’s happened.”

“Alright.” Dipper took a deep breath. “Wake me up.”

“Be careful,” Bill warned, “If you die, I’m pretty sure that I die, too.”

“I’ll try.”

“Okay. You ready?”

Dipper nodded.

“One, two-” Bill snapped his fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sooooo, I might've gone back and edited all the chapters before this one. It's an.. evolving work, I guess? Nothing big, don't worry. Just a bit of dialogue here and there, word choice, grammatical errors and typos.
> 
> Also I changed Andy's name to Stan (because I thought it would be funny, tbh)
> 
> I'm sorry this update is so late, i'm still not up to date in classes from when I had pneumonia. (softly) im trying
> 
> Buuuut I've gone too long without creative output, and this is currently my favourite form of creative output, so, kudos to that, I guess. I'm going to keep updating more regularly and everything. even if that is a frequently broken promise.
> 
> ttyl, hmu if u want


	7. Selkie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Human!Bill, some magic, also some like..... backstory and characterization??? wwwwowwww. Some might categorize as slightly fluffy in some bits?????

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch out for misgendering and deadnames (not by protagonists/bill, by an antagonist who is made out to be an asshole obviously by the narrative)
> 
> also some blood???

Dipper woke up.

He was alone in the forest. 

_“I thought better and turned it off. You don’t really need it for now. Anyway, you're safer when you can't reveal anything to them. I can turn it back on if you like-”_

“No,” Dipper hastily stopped him. Much as he hated not knowing what was going on, there was nothing he could do for now, so: “Not yet,” he amended.

Dipper started walking through the forest, back to the shack. He tried not to think about how many timore he was walking by, or how close they were to him. 

Finally, he was at the shack. He looked over his shoulder as he climbed the porch, when he saw-

There were hundreds of timore surrounding the shack, bumping into the barrier, which flashed pink when a shaky white beast with a million small bones poking out of it’s hide took a running leap and crashed into it.

The smaller ones were climbing it- resting on what looked like nothing, swarming and blocking out the sun.

Dipper breathed out. “Holy shit.”

_”Yeah, so, I turned it back on. I should probably warn you next time, huh? Well, we need to know if they get in.”_

“Why do they want in?”

_”This is like, ground zero. My rift wasn’t nearly as powerful as a portal which literally has the power to access all dimensions. If they can get to that they can stuff themselves until there’s nothing left but them, functionally destroying the multiverse.”_

“Wow.”

_“Yeah.”_

“That would suck.”

_“Yeah.”_

“What do we do if they break through the barrier?”

_“I actually don’t know. Which brings me to me to my next point.”_

Dipper hung his head and sighed.

_”I need to have some measure of existence and power outside of your brain if you want me as backup.”_

Dipper shook his head, going into the shack and sitting on the couch, trying not to look out the windows or think about the timore just 20 feet outside. “No fucking way. I only need you for information.”

_”That’s going to be the least of your troubles though, realistically. Have you figured out the whole magic thing yet?”_

“Yeah, remember? I was talking to you about it earlier.”

_”No, I mean- Can you perform magic. Use your will to alter reality, and all that.”_

“Oh.” Dipper thought for a bit. “I’ve done some stuff before- mostly by accident- but I’ve also been able to reconstruct a few older rituals and perform them. I’ve managed to cast a few protective spells on Mabel and a few other people, but only the kind that protects against magic.”

_”That’s good. Yeah, it’s hard to get ahold of, anything at all is pretty advanced. Good job.”_

“Uh. Thanks.” That was weird. Also, it was a little weird to talk to someone he couldn’t see. He didn’t know how to present his body language, or whether that even mattered. Bill was already in his head, so he supposed it didn’t.

_”But, really. You need backup. The Timore can only be harmed through magic, guns ‘n fists ‘n stuff just go through them. They’re still not wholly on this plane of existence, which is why most people can’t see them.”_

Dipper chewed his lip and fidgeted. “I don’t think I can ask Mabel to be backup. I don’t want to put her in danger.”

Bill laughed, the sound rattling around in Dipper’s head. _”You liar, I’m so proud! You just don’t want Mabel to figure out where you got all this information. Well, I can get behind it. Secrets are good for the soul, and all that.”_

Dipper’s shoulders slumped. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how the saying goes.”

_”Well regardless, we’ve entered an allyship in secrecy! That’s fun. Do you think you can ignore me when I’m talking to you when Mabel’s around? She’s a smart chick. Even if she doesn’t figure out what, she’s going to know something’s up and be upset you’re keeping it from her. If you think you can handle that, well, it’s your decision.”_

“It’ll be fine.”

_”She’s going to find out sooner or later. I’ll just be sitting around waiting for the other shoe to drop.”_

Dipper felt himself start to get angry. “It’ll be fine.” He stared ahead, twisting his fingers.

_”You bet! ‘Cuz I’ll be there to help you out.”_

“I don’t have any motive to give you that power.”

_”Sure you do! What you don’t have is motive not to. I still only exist by your permission, remember? The moment I step out of line, you’ll be there to kill me!”_

Dipper felt sick. “I don’t need you to be around. That hasn’t changed.”

_”Hell yeah you do! Even ‘ol Grunkle Ford needed someone to watch his six. Get it? Because he had six fingers? That’s another person who’s going to kill you if he finds out you brought me back from the dead, by the way. Just a heads up.”_

“Mabel is going to have my back.”

_”Will she, though? She’s got her own stuff to worry about. Not to mention the falling out you two will have when she figures out how and why I’m here.”_

Dipper laid down across the couch. He felt like he was falling down a slippery slope.

_“Pine Tree, guy, all you gotta do is give me permission and a conduit.”_

“What do you mean, ‘all I gotta do,’” Dipper replied back, indignant. “All I’ve gotta do is let Bill Cipher into my dimension, among my friends and family.”

 _“Well, the barrier’s still up,”_ Bill cooed. _“Containing a dimensional rift sure did weaken it a bit, but it’s not like anything else could get through.”_

“No.”

_”C’mon. I’d rather not die, believe it or not. Let me help you out.”_

Dipper groaned. “No.”

 _”How about this,”_ Bill spoke up after a moment, _”I’ll teach you how to use magic. That’s my last and only bargaining chip.”_

“You have to do that anyway.”

_”No I don’t. I don't have to do anything.”_

“Then I hope you like not-existing.”

_”I don’t. But you need me anyway. The Timore are new to this world. They’re not in any books, anything. I’m the only way you’ll know their weaknesses.”_

“Why do you need to exist in our dimension?” It seemed like there was no reason for that was good for Dipper.

_”I told you already, I need to have your back! This is some deep shit, kid, you’re going to get us both killed!”_

Dipper thought for a bit. If it came down to Bill trying to hurt someone, Dipper would… murder him, he guessed. Again? Again. Getting the info wasn’t more important than someone being hurt. Dipper was still in control of the situation.

_”I promise not to hurt you. Or anyone else. Cross my heart, hope not to die. My main motivation here is living, kid. I’m just up for not dying. That’s perfectly reasonable. Also, bonus! I won’t have constant access to your brain.”_

Really? That was… nice. Cool. Helpful. “...Okay.”

_”I won’t even be a bother! Wait- sweet. Really?”_

Dipper sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Yeah.”

_”Good shit. Okay, kid, get up. Time for your first lesson.” ___

* * *

Bill had turned off his ability to see the Timore again, so he could make it out of the shack. Dipper looked out across the lake. It was night, and the docks were devoid of both people and light.

Dipper was looking at the water like it was going to rise up and swallow him.

“You’re sure this won’t do?” Dipper gestured at the sandy beach.

_“What some really annoying people don’t know, Pine Tree, is that any sand by a lake of this size was imported and dumped by a tourism board.”_

“Well, alright.” Dipper stashed his cell phone, jacket, and socks under a log by the treeline.

Bill has to rise from clay, apparently. “So… how does it work?” Dipper rolled up his pant legs and started wading along the shore, away from the manufactured beach and into the wetlands that made up most of the shore.

_”The clay should be saturated with carbon and nutrients- decomposed dead things, basically. It’s composed of finely ground minerals, all physical stuff that was associated with life.”_

“So… Undead.” Slime wormed its way between his toes as his feet dragged along the sediment under the water.

_”Yeah. Though a more apt term for it might be ‘Vessel.’ Maybe just ‘Physical.’ Or like, ‘Worldly’ or something.”_

There was a splash behind Dipper. He turned around and didn’t see anything.

“What about everything else?” Dipper was at the end of the beach, starting to enter a web of branches and logs hanging over and in the water.

_”You’re going to make a mound of clay and draw a rune in it. The rune is Structured. Though we could also call it ‘Guiding’ or ‘Binding.’”_

“Haha. Same.” Dipper struggled to free his pant leg where it was caught in some brambles. The thorns scraped his hands and arms in long red lines.

_”And then there’s me. I'm the soul, or the Chaos magic. Together the three poles create a living being.”_

Dipper could hardly see where he was walking. “Living being? are you going to be like…” He tried to think about what kind of thing Bill would want to turn into, “... a Dragon or something?”

Dipper could’ve sworn he heard a branch snap.

 _”No, that would take too much energy. Also, we don’t have the working flesh model of a dragon.”_

Dipper saw a bank that wasn’t as covered in branches as everything else he’d seen so far. He started to head towards it. “So… if you need a model…” Dipper didn’t think Bill would want to be a fish. He was struck by an image of a fish with a bow and top hat.

Bill made a dramatic groaning noise. _”Okay, resembling one of you apes isn’t desirable, but it’s better than a lot of other things. It’ll make our work easier. Besides, Human souls are unprecedentedly powerful. I could do worse.”_

“... Is that a compliment, Bill?”

_”Dipper, kiddo, I can honestly say that this Earth has the most efficient and widespread shadow ‘governments’ of almost any civilized world. Though, to be fair, most are capitalist conglomerates. You’ll manage the uphill battle to destroy the feudal system eventually.”_

Meanwhile, Dipper had made his way over to the bank. “Thanks, I guess. Is this good?”

_”Yeah, that’ll do.”_

“Maybe I should've brought a shovel.” So Dipper started on the long and arduous process of clearing a flat surface with a diameter of approximately of six feet. 

After a good chunk of time, he had a level enough terrain to draw a distinct circle into.

“Okay, Bill, what do I do now.” Dipper was covered in mud from head to toe. There was a smear across his face from his temple to his nose, and a few clumps in his hair. His arms were covered, but his legs had some bare spots that’d been washed off. You couldn’t tell what his clothes’ original colors were.

 _”Well, the moon is high enough that it’s easier to see now, but-”_ a circle of low blue fires ignited a few inches above the mud, floating around like will-o’-the-wisps. Dipper felt their magic draw from him- like they were _his_. Bill must’ve made them with his… power? LIfe energy? _”Go ahead and draw a circle for creating an acceptable gollum, we’ll start from there.”_

Dipper was at a loss. Embarrassed, he stuttered. “I don’t, um. I don’t know that. I mean. I don’t have that memorised.”

 _”Sure you do. I’m rattling around in here, I get it.”_ Bill’s voice turned soft. _”All you’ve gotta do is draw from the concepts. You can use the laws and principles to derive an equation, so to speak.”_

Dipper took a deep breath. Bill hadn’t mocked him, like, at all. “Okay.” He got to work.

He utilised everything he knew about energy transfers, magical law, soul bonding, and creature symbolism.

There was one part he wasn’t sure about. He’d tried to make a gollum before (they were so cool, how could he resist), and hadn’t succeeded. 

There was a bit with a sickle that might’ve been near the center or the outside of the circle (which didn’t matter as much as you might think- you just had to have the intention to go with the symbolism- one intention matched with different symbolism would lead to a failed spell), and Dipper had thought the sickle was meant to represent the function of the gollum- work as a farmhand, traditionally, though he could use it to represent any type of work- but Ford had talked about how it was needed to represent the fertility of the clay, and it’s connection to the composition meant it had to be near the center, so Dipper had changed it on his attempt. And then it hadn’t worked.

So maybe Ford was wrong? Dipper bit his lip and put it near the outside.

After about a half hour, he was done.

Dipper stood back to look it over one last time. “Okay,” he sighed. “What do I need to change.”

 _”Well for one thing, I don’t want anything in the circle to imprint any nefarious agendas or motivations on my psyche, so I’m going to mess with it a bit, but damn, Pine Tree! Way to go!”_ While Bill spoke, Dipper felt his body move of it’s own accord, his hands and knees moving clumsily to mess with the drawing.

 _”I’m guessing I need to get rid of these if I want to keep my free will-”_ Bill swept over the sickle and a sword. So it _had_ been a symbol of servitude. _”And I’m going to add a few things. I don’t want to be a big clay doll. Here’s a transformation spell, and a duplicating spell that I’m going to alter to reflect you, so I can have like, functioning organs and fleshy bits. Now, it’s very important you understand how these spells work, so we can get intent right.”_ Dipper’s hand drew elegant designs, circles within the circles, with flowery pictographs he hadn’t ever seen before.

Bill and Dipper spent a good hour talking through the spell, making sure Dipper understood everything.

Bill was patient with him. Dipper hadn’t been expecting that. When he didn’t understand something, or needed a bit more time to work through a problem, Bill didn’t mock or harass him. That was… new. Also, nice.

Eventually, Dipper thought he had it. “Okay.” He thought through it one last time. “Let’s try it.”

He sat at the base of the circle, the water at his back. He put either hand on the edge of the lines, and closed his eyes.

Dipper pulled at the same place he felt Bill light the fires from. After a moment, he opened his eyes, and saw the lines drawn in blue flame. He focused on the spell, on what he wanted the end result to be.

In the center, a mound of clay started to rise. Dipper kept doing what he was doing as the clay started to shift and form shapes.

Dipper suddenly felt very, very tired.

There was a bright flash in the center. Dipper fell back.

The small blue flames were gone, and Dipper needed a few minutes to adjust to the dark after that bright flash of light. All his previous exhaustion had vanished.  
There was an excited laugh in front of him. “Oh shit!”

Dipper could start to make out a human figure.

It started to stand up, then fell over. Then it stood up again.

“...Is everything working?” Dipper called out.

“Fuck Yeah!”

There was a snap, and the blue lights were back.

“Hah! Sweet.” Bill ran his hands along the dark skin on his forearms. “This is the body I took the first time I ever tried this- a little under three thousand years ago.” Bill walked over to the black water and lit a small blue flame to try and look at his reflection. He tilted his head to the side and felt his jawline.

Bill moved his hand in front of his face, then stretched it out, then brought it back in front of his nose again. “Woah,” he declared, eyes wide. “Big, small, big. It’s been a while since I've been able to see in three combined dimensions.” He started wiggling his fingers. “It’s going to take some work to re-learn.” He walked over to Dipper, poked his chest, then fell over again. “Man, I wish multidimensional perception was like riding a bike,” he grumbled from his spot in the mud.

“Three thousand years? You’re pretty old.”

“Eh, not really. There were great periods of time where I was… dormant. Frozen, so to speak. Not just the past five years. And I’ve got enough cumulative memory loss to knock me down a few centuries.” He shrugged. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve got the brain of a ‘young adult.’ I’ve got everything my eyes have ever seen in storage, but I can only access those through my dreamscape. I’m kinda like you kids, with your access to the internet. Just because I can reference many years of objective observation of… basically, like, camera footage, doesn’t mean I know it.”

“So, like, what was your total amount of time being… active?”

“Ummmmmm,” Bill clasped his hands together. “Not all that long, actually? In all honesty, I spent about a week walking around egypt in my current form, when I was first ‘born.’” Bill made finger-quotes. “I was basically a toddler. Actually, I was literally the mind of a toddler in a grown-ass dude’s body. You should’ve seen me, bumbling around, crying because I was hungry. I was barely a year old, then. 

Bill sat down in the mud, and tilted his head back in thought. “Of course, I didn’t know I had to eat and drink. So I died pretty quick, got stuffed out of the ‘ol meatsack. Then I spent about a year establishing myself a few ‘cameras’ in your dimension, and waited.”

“Waited?”

“Existed. But not really. I was doing nothing but staring into the void for two thousand years. Like sleep without dreaming. I barely had sentience, at the beginning. But I had enough portals indirectly connecting me to y’all’s world. At the start, there was lots of structured magic pouring in. I started out like a flow chart. Then you had some more wars, and then came the dark ages.” Bill Shrugged. “Chaos aplenty. Around 1400 I had enough of a personality to want to fuck shit up.” Bill idly started drawing in the dirt. “I was only really around for five or so winters, and I was still a child. That’s when I first learned how to use my magic. I came as a little kid, with dark eyes and long hair. I made some friends. I killed some people. Okay, a lot of people.”

Dipper gave him an obligatory scolding look.

Bill continued, almost to himself. “They called her a witch, burned her alive. So I burned them.” It was then he seemed to remember Dipper, and he looked at him, his eyes flashing blue. “It was at this age I got my affinity for fire.”

Dipper knew the period he was talking about. There were a lot of demon mythologies and hellfire warnings from then. Almost half of human magic understanding was amassed. 

There was also an unexplained geologic event, where half a continent of ice had gone up in massive wildfires.

“I was hurt and angry. I swore off existence for a bit, spent a month tearing up projections. I don’t remember anything I saw from 1000 to about, say, 1700, just because I erased it all myself.” Bill looked down, angrily. “I can’t believe I missed the renaissance because I was _pouting_.”

Bill stopped, very suddenly, eyes wide. “I just realised something,” he started, his face pinching like he swallowed a lemon, “In exchange for existence, I literally owe you my soul! The deal at the statue was accidental, but this spell made it binding! I better get used to indentured servitude forever, huh?”

“No, I- I wouldn’t do that. It’s wrong.”

“Well, then, set me free.” Bill sounded incredibly sarcastic.

“You know I can’t.”

“Exactly.”

“... What else, after that?” Dipper prompted.

Bill sighed, and let him drop the subject. “I went back to not-existing for a while, out of spite. I woke up for a bit in 1585 and went on a short rampage, then went back to sleep until the early 1800s, at which point I decided to start… plotting. So I spent about a year reviewing the accumulated ‘footage,’ and then set into motion my plans. Then I just... monitored. Set up a subroutine to document anything of note and wake me up if an opportunity arose, then went to sleep again. Then there was the Great War.”

Dipper nodded. World War One, before the geneva convention, when biological weapons and other inhuman atrocities were still legal. Not that other wars were devoid of atrocities, but.

“I grew so powerful from that, you have no idea. Then, in the roaring twenties, I completed years fourteen through seventeen, in the body of a twenty-year-old. I established myself as powerful, and then, for the last two years, went partying. In Berlin.” Bill leered. 

Dipper thought about what that meant, then flushed.

“Well anyway, this guy I’d been fucking started talking about how we needed to get out of the country. So I did.” Bill shrugged. “Got the fuck outta’ dodge.” He looked to the side, almost… guiltily. “I didn’t interfere with anything. Took a break after my three-year-long bender. Let the autonomous setup handle things. I was awake for a week at a time, here and there, to push plans in the right direction. One example was Ronald Reagan.” Bill chuckled.

Dipper rolled his eyes, but didn’t interrupt.

“I came to him in a dream, pretending to be his deity. I convinced him that _more military spending_ and _less taxes on the rich_ would help the economy!” Bill dissolved into fits of giggles. “Totally fucked it, is what it did. That dick. Of course, all that inflation, more dollar bills and eyes than ever.”

Bill sombered. “I’m glad congress fought his attempts to cut public works, though. Looking back on it,” He made a sound, “it was a dick move, what I did.”

Dipper chewed his lip. “So, in total?”

Bill pursed his lips. “Definitely less than twenty-five. I’m at least ‘of age,’ according to your cultural customs. If I had to pick a number, I’d say… twenty-one? Not that that makes me any less of an all-powerful ancient interdimensional god. I’m only telling you my life story to manipulate and placate you into trusting me, by the way.”

Dipper was _pretty _sure that was sarcastic. You don’t tell someone you’re trying to manipulate that you’re manipulating them. Bill probably hasn’t talked to anyone about this, it could be… therapeutic, for him.__

__Bill had paused. Reflecting, maybe._ _

__Without prompting, he spoke. “I thought myself… above humans. I saw them as a means to an end.” Bill lightheartedly glared at Dipper. “Not that I’m _not._ And not that _you’re_ not. I just… underestimated you.”_ _

__Bill was silent for a minute._ _

__He grabbed a glob of mud and smushed it in Dipper’s hair._ _

__Dipper sputtered, then retaliated. Before long, each was covered, and they conceded a truce when Dipper stopped giggling long enough to announce that it was freezing, and Bill was naked, how was he not freezing also?_ _

__“I totally am,” Bill bragged, “I’m just extremely capable of ignoring my body’s needs and discomforts.” Then he twitched in a full-body shiver, and Dipper burst out laughing._ _

__“So… we should start heading back.” Dipper almost rubbed at his eyes, but remembered his hands were covered in mud, so he tried to wipe them on his shirt. His shirt was also covered in mud._ _

__Bill chuckled, curled in on himself. “Yeah, good plan.”_ _

__Dipper thought for a moment._ _

__Bill stood there, shivering, waiting for Dipper to lead the way._ _

__“Hey,” Dipper started, pulling off his shirt. “Here.” He gave Bill his shirt._ _

__Bill was perplexed. “What?” He took the shirt. “Um. You don’t have to. Thanks.”_ _

__“It’s cool.” Dipper was way colder now. “Just give it back if there’s other people at the beach.”_ _

__“Yeah, no problem.” Bill still looked vaguely confused._ _

__The two started on their way back, awkward silence hanging between them._ _

__Once they’d made their way out, Dipper noticed some rustling behind them._ _

__“Shh,” Dipper lightly touched Bill’s arm and pointed at the swampy brush._ _

__Trotting along the shoreline, there was a large horse with a silky coat, dripping weeds caught in it’s mane. It was coming towards them._ _

__“Wow.” Dipper let out a low whistle._ _

__Bill spoke lowly. “What do you think it’s doing here?”_ _

__“I dunno,” Dipper whispered, walking towards it. “It looks so _cool_.”_ _

__“That might be a bad idea, cowboy,” Bill started, looking nervous._ _

__Dipper didn't pay attention. He stared, transfixed, and lifted up his hand as it came closer._ _

__“Kid-”_ _

__“Shush, you’ll scare it off.” Dipper didn’t even turn around, still staring at the creature._ _

__It grew ever nearer, until it was pressing its nose against Dipper’s hand._ _

__Dipper grinned and turned around to look at Bill, who was Not Amused._ _

__In a flash of movement far too quick to react to, the horse grabbed his arm with its (pointed?) teeth, and promptly starting dragging him towards the center of the lake._ _

__Dipper yelped and tried desperately to escape, adrenaline numbing the flesh that was being torn in his arm. Just as the horse was halfway submerged, getting ready to dive (and presumably drag him down to the cold, cold depths), when the horse startled and whinnied, and dipper smelt burnt flesh._ _

__It released Dipper’s arm, and morphed into some strange sea creature, spitting and hissing as it sprinted towards Bill, who Dipper now saw was shooting blasts of fire at the lake monster._ _

__The monster screamed, engulfed in blue flame. It quickly dived into the water._ _

__“Looks like I’ve got some power here after all,” Bill muttered, weaving a bit of blue fire between his fingers._ _

__Meanwhile, Dipper wasn’t doing so well. He stood up, his legs wobbling. He couldn’t feel his feet._ _

__“Hey kid, you okay?” Bill called._ _

__Dipper nodded, and started walking up the bank, into the shallower water._ _

__Bill sniffed. “Something smells like blood.”_ _

__Dipper held out his arm. He was shaking._ _

__“Damn, that’s going to scar.”_ _

__Dipper nodded._ _

__Bill seemed to come to a decision. He sighed. “Here.”_ _

__He put his hand over the wound, and Dipper flinched as his arm was engulfed in blue flame._ _

__But it didn’t hurt. It licked gently along his skin, warming him up. After a moment, he felt insanely better, and the gash in his arm disappeared with the fire._ _

__Bill had helped. He hadn’t needed to. Dipper took some deep breaths. Then he shivered. “Can you show me how to do that?”_ _

__Bill blinked. “That’s not a level one spell, Pine Tree. Healing is incredibly complex.”_ _

__“I mean the fire.”_ _

__Bill looked around them. “... I think our first priority is getting out of the water.”_ _

* * *

__Dipper and Bill eventually made it back to the shack. They took turns in the shower, which Bill had managed alone (with some instruction). Now, they were both wearing clothes, wrapped up in sweaters and blankets in front of the cold fireplace. The sun had risen about two hours ago._ _

__“Okay, try again.”_ _

__Dipper focused on the center of his palm. He stared. Intently._ _

__Then his posture relaxed and he sighed. “It’s not working. Maybe I'm just sleep-deprived?”_ _

__“You’re putting too much work into it. It should be effortless!”_ _

__“Well maybe I’m not an all-powerful interdimensional demon!”_ _

__Bill smiled and hummed happily. “Thank you.”_ _

__Dipper rolled his eyes._ _

__“Really though. It shouldn’t hurt. Think about fire for a bit.” Bill adjusted his position on the floor. “It’s a form of almost-pure ‘chaos’ magic. Fuel plus Oxygen plus spark equals Carbon Dioxide, steam and contaminants. But mostly, think about what fire means to you.”_ _

__Dipper thought about fire. He thought of warm coals, and tall flames. He remembered long talks around a burning pit, his shins going numb, the light keeping away whatever was watching them from the trees. He pulled from the same place he did for the spell, earlier._ _

__In his hand grew a small orange flame. It moved and pulsed as he told it to, but it also had a life of it’s own, a distinct personality, wanting to burn gently and kindly._ _

__Dipper tossed it into the fireplace, which immediately lit up in warm, crackling flames._ _

__Bill closed his eyes and smiled, leaning closer. “Damn, that feels nice.” He hummed. “Okay, try again.”_ _

__It barely took any effort. Within a second, Dipper’s hand sparked and a small flame erupted. It was much… quieter, when compared to the other one. Also-_ _

__“Hey, Bill, it didn’t spark the first time.”_ _

__Bill freed his arm to pat Dipper’s shoulder. “You got it down, now. You can just think, ‘fire,’ and boom, fire. Because it’s not ‘pretty coals, warm, melts snow,’ or some shit, it’s not going to have an attitude. Also, you can put a bit more _power_ behind it. The first time you try a new type of spell is always the hardest.”_ _

__There was a knock at the door._ _

__Dipper sighed and untangled himself from his blankets._ _

__Bill stayed where he was, eyes closed. He looked like he was teetering on the edge of sleep._ _

__Dipper padded down the hallway to the door. He opened it up._ _

__On the other side was a man in a business suit. With him, he had a leather briefcase. His tie was slate grey._ _

__“Hello, young man,” He said. “Am I correct in assuming you are Elijah Pines?”_ _

__Dipper immediately soured. The dick had just deadnamed Mabel. Which, he probably didn’t know, but like. Still._ _

__“No, actually.”_ _

__“Are you related? I’m looking for his sister.”_ _

__Dipper let out a long-suffering sigh. “That’d be me.”_ _

__The man kept smiling, but was obviously confused._ _

__Dipper sighed. Again. “What do you need?”_ _

__“I’m a representative of E-Corp.” He handed Dipper a pamphlet. “We’re a company dedicated to developing a clean energy source. We’re going to be setting up in the area, and we were told that the Pines family in the Mystery Shack could give us a good introduction to the town’s culture.”_ _

__“I’m sorry, now is not a good time-”_ _

__“I’d be willing to offer significant compensation.”_ _

__Dipper wanted to say no, but. Tourism in small towns wasn’t an easy industry. If he had something to put towards the shack, to give to Mabel and Wendy as ‘part of the money the shack made while you guys were gone,’ he’d feel useful. ‘Guilt breeds generosity’ and all that._ _

__Also, the ever-turning meat grinder of capitalism._ _

__Dipper sighed, for the third time. “Come in. I hope you don’t mind that I’m in pajamas.” He stepped aside._ _

__The man walked in, looking around. He was barely trying to hide how much he was snooping._ _

__Dipper felt extremely uncomfortable. He followed the man into the kitchen._ _

__“So, I take it you know the Pines Twins personally? Do you know when they’ll be home?”_ _

__Dipper wordlessly got his wallet down from the mantel and showed the man his driver’s license._ _

__“Oh. Okay.”_ _

__Dipper had no idea the word ‘okay’ could sound so condescending._ _

__“I’m told you're the local ghosthunter.” If he’d heard that from talking to the townfolk, he should at least know to get Dipper and Mabel’s names right. That dick. (Also, that he knew their deadnames means he got information from the government. So E-corp had some friends in high places. That was… suspicious.)_ _

__“Nah, that was my grandma. I loved her to death, but I never believed in any of it. I’ll still go around and bless houses and stuff, to keep the tradition up, but I’m not really invested in it myself.” Dipper easily lied._ _

__“Ah… do you know where your sibling is?”_ _

__“I wish I did.” Dipper leaned against the counter and gave the man a sad smile. “She ran off about a year ago, with this guy she met online. Really gave us all a scare, but she sends our cousin postcards from europe every once and a while.”_ _

__Dipper knew that the man knew that Dipper was lying, but for him to call Dipper out on it would require that he divulged how he knew Dipper didn’t have a cousin._ _

__The man narrowed his eyes._ _

__Dipper smiled pleasantly._ _

__“Thank you for your time, young lady.” The man straightened his jacket, sniffed, and walked out._ _

__“Thanks for all those interesting questions about the town!” Dipper called after him. He felt… not good. Angry, mostly._ _

__Bill walked into the room from where he’d been obviously listening, still wrapped up in a blanket. “Not that I’ve been droppin’ no eaves, sir,” he drawled with an accent Dipper couldn’t recognise, “But I do think you’ve earned a bit of my respect. That guy was an asshole.”_ _

__“Fuck yeah he was.” Dipper relaxed his shoulders, but couldn’t help but clench his fists. “Could you like, curse him with really bad pollen allergies, or something?”_ _

__“I gave him bubonic plague and genital warts. They’ll have set in by the time he wakes up tomorrow.”_ _

__Dipper thought for a moment. He tilted his head to the side. “You know what…” The black Plague’s been cured for ages, so the guy wouldn’t die, or anything. If he, y’know, got treatment. There was still a chance. “... I’ll allow it. Thanks.”_ _

__Bill chuckled. “No problem.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that last interaction baisically sums up their dynamic tbh
> 
> "Bill i need you to do this mildly bad thing for me"
> 
> "Lol how about this Super Bad thing instead it'll be funny"
> 
> "...Yeah actually that'd be hilarious."
> 
> this was the longest chapter yet and like two weeks late by golly im so sorry
> 
> Still here! still going. 
> 
> (More Mabel in the next chapter, and another monster-of-the-week as always)


	8. Bill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is like allllll mythos bs and underhanded characterization but the next one should progress the plot a lot and be a lil exciting

Dipper took a nap.

He hadn’t slept all night, and it had been a long day-and-a-half. He considered tying Bill up, but ultimately realised that he could get out of literally anything Dipper tried.

So he talked with Bill, and the two came to an understanding. 

Dipper would not risk anyone else’s well being (“More than you already have, you mean,” Bill had reminded him, that dick). If Bill did anything suspicious enough, or otherwise made Dipper think he was planning on hurting anybody, Bill would be gone, just like that.

Dipper was uncomfortable with the amount of power he had over Bill, at first- he could kill him at any time. That is… a lot of fear. For anyone to be under. Even weird triangle demons.

But, realistically… anyone could kill anyone at any time. All you needed was a knife and a distraction. People just trusted each other not to.

So Dipper was going to trust Bill. In turn, Bill had to trust Dipper.

Bill didn’t want to die.

Dipper didn’t want his dimension to be consumed.

Mutually assured destruction.

So Dipper took a nap, for like four hours, and trusted Bill not to… do anything _too_ nefarious.

When Dipper woke up around 3pm, he wandered downstairs and found Bill sleeping on the couch.

Bill hadn’t gotten any sleep that night, either- He looked very human: his face relaxed, lines on his cheek from the pillow, making small sounds every time he breathed in.

Dipper quietly pulled a blanket over his shoulders and went into the kitchen to make some food.

A few minutes later, Dipper turned around and saw Bill leaning against the counter, still bleary-eyed, and staring at the the plate in Dipper’s hands.

Dipper wondered, for a moment: Did Bill have to eat? Does he _want_ to eat? _Could_ he eat? It seems like the sort of thing that would feel gross to someone who wasn’t used to it.

Bill grabbed a fork and took a bit of egg off of Dipper’s plate. He chewed, swallowed, then nodded his approval.

“I want some of that,” He gestured with the fork.

But Dipper was hungry. “...Sure. Okay.” He snatched the fork out of Bill’s hand and quickly downed a few bites, then handed both the plate and fork to Bill. “Sit at the table. I’ll make some more.”

Bill sat down, propping his feet up on another chair. 

Dipper still hadn’t gotten over Bill’s vulnerability. 

“These are pretty great,” Bill said, in between Mouthfuls.

“Thanks. Do you want some of this batch?” Dipper flipped the eggs with his spatula.

“Yes.” Bill had finished already.

They were quiet for a while. Bill read the newspaper left sitting on the table while Dipper made the eggs. Eventually, Dipper finished and sat down.

“I’ve gotta go see mabel in the hospital.”

Bill just looked at him and shrugged. He kept eating.

“Mabel can’t know.”

Bill stared at Dipper, then burst into laughter, spraying his food across the table.

“Whatever you say, Kid.”

* * *

Dipper slowly opened the door to Mabel’s room. Bill was waiting in the parking lot, thank _god_.

“Hey, Dipper! I missed you today.”

Dipper walked in, carrying a bouquet in one hand. “Sorry, I was… watching over the shack.” Seeing mabel in the hospital, injured by a car crash, brought up some unfortunate memories of their parents from a few years ago. “I brought flowers.” He held up the daisies, already in a vase.

“Aw, thank you!”

“Here,” Dipper placed the flowers on Mabel’s bedside table. “So, how’s it going?”

“Actually, Dipper, I’ve been meaning to talk to you. About the accident.”

Mabel had Dipper’s full attention.

“Okay.”

“I wasn’t alone in the car, when it crashed. But the doctors said they didn’t find anyone else.”

Dipper started biting at his cuticles. “Who was it? In the car?”

Mabel shook her head.

“Nobody I knew. She was a young woman, wearing a white dress. She had long dark hair. I saw her walking along the way, and stopped and asked if she needed a ride.”

“Did she tell you anything?” Dipper’s leg was bouncing.

“I mean, I don’t remember her exact words, but she said something about needing a ride into town. I told her that was headed there anyway. She was real pretty.”

Dipper ceased his racing thoughts for a moment to roll his eyes. “Don’t tell Pacifica that.”

Mabel smiled and bit her lower lip. “What!” She rebutted, bright pink.

“Nothing.” Dipper shook his head. She got his meaning. “Do you remember why you crashed?”

“No, actually. The last I remember I was just driving along the road. Though I did hit my head, so there’s no accounting for memory loss. They said I’d careened off the road and hit a tree.”

It was completely possible that Mabel had been in an ordinary accident. But Dipper was almost certain that wasn’t what happened. You know what they say, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck- 

“That’s not all, Dipper. The town’s lost so much of itself while we were gone. Have you noticed?”

He had. “Yeah.” Dipper took a shaky breath. Should he tell her? He should at least mention the Timore. “Mabel, about that-”

The door shot open. “Fuck yes! I finally found you dorks.”

“I thought I told you to stay in the car!” Dipper hissed.

Mabel looked pleasantly surprised, but a little wary. “Dipper, did you make a friend?”

Bill bounded over to Mabel’s bedside. “Did he _ever_.”

Mabel looked Bill over. In a faux stage whisper directed at Dipper, Mabel spoke behind her hand: _“Oh my god, Dipper. Look at his pretty eyes.”_

Bill cackled while Dipper’s face flushed.

Mabel froze, suddenly, staring at Bill while he laughed. Her smile dropped and her face drained white. “But-” She took a weak breath. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

Damn it.

Bill whistled. “Wow, I really fucked you guys up didn’t I? You probably had nightmares for years. Did you have to go to therapy?” He seemed genuinely curious. “I guess being put in mortal peril will do that to a kid. Wow.”

“Yeah, no shit, asshole!” Mabel berated him. Dipper guessed that the only reason she was so still were the bruises on her ribs.

Then she looked at Dipper, furious.

Fuck.

“What the fuck, Dipper!”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

Bill chuckled and patted Dipper’s shoulder. “Yeah, he did mean to.”

Dipper made a high-pitched noise. “Bill!”

Mabel put her elbows on the table and massaged her temples. She was quiet for a minute, resolutely not looking at either of them. It looked like she was desperately fighting a migraine.

“Dipper,” she started, after a long sigh. “What happened.”

“Everything’s under control!”

“Dipper.” Mabel wasn't taking any of his shit, apparently.

Bill cut in. “I finally found my way out of hell and crawled back here. I was floating around, corrupting politicians, setting up hits, the usual. Then _this guy over here,_ ” he pointed at Dipper, “noticed I was poking around when he recognised one of my calling cards at the saw mill where dear ‘ol Wendy’s bros kicked the bucket.” Bill made big swooping gestures with his arms.

Dipper was stunned. Was Bill… lying for him?

“So he summoned me and trapped me in this gross assimilation of membrane,” Bill hugged himself and shuddered, “and he can immobilize me and leave me trapped for a good few decades, so we made a deal!” Bill put his arm around Dipper’s shoulders.

Dipper didn’t pull away.

Mabel was still angry, but she probably wasn’t going to pop a blood vessel now. “What was the deal?” She ground out from between clenched teeth.

“Unlimited access to all his knowledge,” Dipper answered. “And it’s null if he tries anything or spends too long out of my sight.”

Okay, there was some hurt crawling onto Mabel’s face to mix with the anger. “Why didn’t you tell me ahead of time?”

“I was afraid of how you’d react.”

Dipper and Bill stood there, watching her, Bill’s arm still around Dipper’s shoulders.

Mabel looked down and stared at her hands for a long time.

“Then tell us everything you know about magic, dickface. To start out with, at least.” Finally, she spoke.

Bill laughed. “Ha! that would take a millennium. I _can_ start y’all out with the basics, though.” Bill took his hand off Dipper’s shoulder and leaned against the counter at the small room’s sink, over by the window.

Mabel was making a face. Dipper didn't know what it meant, but it was certainly A Face. “By all means.”

“Well, as you’ve so cleverly deduced, there are three types of magic. Everything else is subcategorical.” Bill scratched his nose and pulled himself up onto the counter, gesturing wildly as he taked. “There’s Chaotic, my personal fav. It’s made by everything ever: matter, existence, you name it. The low-level radiation and, with living things, life energy and soul essence, run away in entropy when there’s a lack of structured magic to go along with it.”

Dipper had heard most of this already, so he only watched Mabel.

She was regarding Bill intently, nodding along as he spoke. 

“The structured magic is sustained by the chaos magic’s power, and in turn, keeps the chaos power regulated so it doesn’t run wild and disperse itself out of existence. Gravity Fall’s chaos is sustained- in part by the dimensional portal, mostly by natural phenomenon- so it doesn’t ‘need’ structured magic in the strictest sense,” he crossed his legs and leaned back. “But as time goes on the chaos remains unrestrained, and gets more and more… well. Chaotic.”

Bill sniffed and ran his hands through his hair. Dipper admired how the bright curls caught the light as they rearranged themselves.

Bill looked into the distance, thinking hard. “Its hard to get a connection between two types of magic, but once you get that to become stable, it becomes incredibly powerful.” Bill placed his palm on his heart and raised his eyebrows. “Take me, for example. If I had too much chaos, I’d have no control, and end up spontaneously combusting or something. If I had too much structured, I wouldn’t have sentience. And I’d be less fun, of course, and that’s what really matters.” He smiled up at them.

“That’s simple enough. It shouldn’t be that hard to study. If you can understand it even without access to our world, we should get it easily.” Mabel looked less _angry,_ but still driven.

Dipper cheered internally at her use of ‘we.’ This wasn’t going nearly as bad as it could’ve.

Bill, meanwhile, glared at her. “Well unfortunately, you shiny little unboiled potato, the farther you go the more complex it gets. For example, each pairing has its own shtick. Without a very delicate balance, they destroy the odd man out. Chaos plus Structured births life and soul-energy, the opposite of undead. Undead and Structured separates Chaos from the life force it needs to exist, destroying it. Undead and Chaos are the Timore.”

Bill shook his head at Mabel’s questioning look. ”The baddies that are fucking up Gravity Falls at the moment. They literally eat structured worlds. After they prepare them, of course.”

Dipper didn’t want to think about what ‘preparing’ them meant, but he’d hazard a guess that he was going to have to deal with it in the near future.

“But when all three are brought together, that creates balance.” He nodded. “It’s extremely difficult to complete artificially.” Bill shot Dipper a look that Mabel missed.

Was that a compliment?

“But when it’s done, the final product is a Complete Life Form. Like me, now. Walking around in X-Y-Z. I’m actually a little proud of of Mr. ‘I cant do things,’ over here.” He went over to Dipper and ruffled his hair.

Dipper batted him away and tried not to smile. He definitely wasn't expecting… any of this.

Mabel watched the two of them with her eyebrows drawn together.

“The magic with the most raw potential energy is chaotic. The most powerful Chaotic energy a living thing can produce is pure fear.” Bill inclined his head. “Just look at your politics. The tiniest bit of pure fear, and entire governments are toppled. Anarchy is incited. Children are killed.” Dipper was surprised to note that Bill looked solemn and serious, not showing the excitement or happiness Dipper would’ve expected from a ...chaos demon?

What even _was_ he? Bill had just said he was a ‘Complete Life Form,’ does that mean he was human? Or like, human once-removed? Probably like. A warlock, or something? Errant magical soul?

Dipper supposed the title was meaningless.

Okay, so maybe Dipper had set his expectations of Bill’s moral code a bit lower than he should've. Which, well. Was also a surprise.

“A little bit of fear, and the scales are tipped, and Chaos overtakes and metabolises Structured. Alternatively, too much Structure cancels out Undead, and too much undead and Chaos has nothing to feed from. Like the common ape child entertainment, rock-paper-scalpel.”

“How different are the types of magic?” Dipper was curious.

Bill pursed his lips. “Ooooh, very.”

Dipper started biting his nails, which he probably shouldn’t do in a hospital, but whatever. “So if you have a spell meant to target a specific kind, it wouldn’t affect anything else?”

“Right on the money, sapling.”

Dipper nodded. So that meant-

“The skinwalker was Undead magic. Not Chaotic or Structured. That’s how it got in.” Mabel was twisting the sheets in her lap between her hands. She gave Dipper a pointed look. “Okay. I feel better now. I understand a lot more. Now, my most pressing question is-” She turned to Bill. “How are you alive? You should’ve been erased from existence.”

“Well, headband, you see, I'm not a person, so much as a consciousness which desperately clings to a concept to achieve tangibility. Stan forgot about me, so my consciousness was stuck, but the concept of me continued to rattle around in those empty skulls of yours.” he knocked on the side of Mabel's head, and she smacked his hand away. “because the concept of me no longer existed in my home dimension, and I was killed in the mindscape, I lost my link between dimensions. I am literally locked out of my birthplace FOREVER.” His tone was light, but something in his eyes betrayed his bitterness.

Birthplace? What was that? It must’ve been where Bill was when he was ‘dormant,’ like he was talking about at the lake. Where he first started to form. So the Mindscape wasn’t really ‘his’ dimension? Huh.

“Changing the subject, you should be able to find some stuff that elaborates on what I’ve been telling you. The concept of ‘Mind, Body, and Soul’ is hardly new.”

Oh.

Ohhhhhhhh.

Yeah, that’s been around for ages.

Dipper looked away from Bill and at Mabel, who had the same look of realisation on her face that Dipper had. Bill should’ve lead with that. Now everything was a lot less confusing.

Mabel caught Dipper’s eye and the two nodded at each other.

“So ‘mind’ is Structured, ‘body’ is Undead, and ‘soul’ is Chaotic.” Dipper clarified.

Bill nodded.

“That was kind of obvious, Dip-dop.”

 _Shut up, Mabel._ Dipper knew it was.

Dipper just needed to make sure, because if this was true, that meant, in a very basic sense, that Bill had a soul. 

He had admitted to being ‘a mix of structured and chaotic’ magic. Dipper understood, now, what that meant. Mind and soul. Bill had feelings and humanity; he was made of the same stuff that people were.

Bill was looking at him weird.

Dipper flushed. “Something on my face?”

Bill blinked. “What are you smiling like that for?”

“Nothing.” Dipper guessed that Bill either hadn’t noticed or hadn’t understood the significance of what he’d let slip.

Mabel must have figured it out, too.

Dipper looked over at her, but she was just looking at him like he’d decided to start a business in floppy disk manufacturing.

Dipper didn’t pay much attention to her. He was focused on other things.

Why did this understanding of Bill’s character feel so important? Why did Dipper _care_ so much?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fucking fuck me this is like a week late  
> also im failing calculus  
> but im looking forward to being able to write the next chapter, might even get it done early


	9. Corporate Bureaucracy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> plot, fluff, and grunkles.

So.

Mabel was kind of okay with it. Well, she was okay with an ill-thought-out lie, but whatever. She wasn’t angry with Dipper, so he could cope for now.

Still, though. Tricking his sister. Summoning demons. 

It wasn’t like he could go meditate at Bill’s statue, so he was left resorting to other methods to calm himself down. That was his goal, at least.

Dipper had decided to go on an expedition. He knew the woods fairly well, even after being gone from them for years; It had been established that things had been changing lately. He had to figure out to what extent that included the woods. Skinwalkers were as new to Gravity Falls as Death. 

Now he was trepaising through the forest, Bill stumbling along behind him. He tried his best to ignore the knowledge that those oily white spectres could be anywhere, anytime. They were probably crawling all over the place right now.

Bill was doing a good job of ignoring them, at least. “Are you sure we’re not lost?”

“Yes, Bill, for the thousandth time, I’m sure.”

They were walking up a dry streambed. The water had dried up with summer’s arrival, leaving nothing but mud and clay, eroded flat.

So, naturally, Bill found a way to trip over it.

He barreled into Dipper without warning. They both slammed into the ground, the soft silt breaking their fall. They were covered in mud.

“Oh, fuck. Your sister’s skirt is ruined.”

Dipper groaned. “You stole Mabel’s clothes?”

“Where do you think I got this?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t worry about it. Why didn’t you just wear something else of mine?” Dipper stood up and offered Bill his hand.

“You’re too small,” Bill sniffed and took Dipper’s hand, allowing Dipper to pull him up, “And everything you own is so _dull._ Seriously, cargo pants?”

Dipper flushed, and started walking again. “Shut up.”

Yeah. Dipper was not relaxing.

Bill spent the next fifteen or so minutes whistling, while Dipper charted their path in his notebook.

“...So,” Bill started, after a while. “Do you want to practice some spells?”

“I don’t want to set the forest on fire.”

Dipper could _feel_ Bill roll his eyes behind him. “You don’t have to do fire. Theres other stuff I can teach you.”

Dipper perked up. _Like what?_ But that would have to wait for later. “I have to keep track of our position, to make sure we don’t _actually_ get lost.” He hummed, and after a beat, he added, “Otherwise, I’d love to.”

“Oh, no problem. I can take care of that.”

Dipper stopped walking. “Really?” He was skeptical.

“Well, not yet. Give me a sec.” Bill closed his eyes.

Dipper watched as his expression grew more and more frustrated, before relaxing into a terrified shock.

Bill clenched his hands into fists and lightly pounded on his head. “Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. I forgot.”

Dipper closed his compass, and turned around. “You okay?”

“No!” Bill wailed, long fingers twisting in his curls. “I can’t- I can’t get back. I noticed earlier, but i thought- if i just really had to, and tried hard-”

“Shhh,” Dipper set his notebook and compass down in some grass, and walked over to Bill. “It’s alright. What’s wrong?”

 _”I can’t get back.”_ Bill paused and took a few deep breaths. “To- to my home, I mean.” His face relaxed, going blank. “I’m cut off. I’m not sure why. I think- it’s just that the concept of me only has ties to this dimension. Once my original form was obliterated, I lost all my previously existing ties. So.”

Bill sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I’m isolated. I can’t acess my ‘camera roll,’ as it were.” He started walking, past Dipper. He picked up the notebook, then looked at Dipper. “This will be boring, but, teach me.”

* * *

Bill actually learned pretty quickly. Dipper was mildly jealous.

Bill had set Dipper up practicing levitation and matter alteration. Like all magic, Bill had claimed, it gets easier as it goes along. By the time the sky was turning orange, Dipper had a trail of large boulders following along behind them, and was shifting them into weird and entertaining shapes.

“Look, it’s a dick.”

Bill had been mostly silent, despite Dipper’s attempts to make him happy.

“Hey, we might want to turn around soon. There’s new and scary things in the dark.”

“Yeah, it’s ‘cause of the extradimensional dickheads. Monsters from their dimension are bleeding through.”

Bill actually spoke!

“But, really though. It’s getting dark. Something might, like, attack us.”

Bill stopped walking.

Dipper stopped too.

Bill stared at Dipper for a few seconds, sizing him up.

Then he nodded. “We can take ‘em,” Bill said.

Dipper opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a crashing noise in the distance. Both his and Bill’s heads snapped in that direction. Now that the sky was darker, they could make out the faint glow of light on the horizon between the trees.

Bill and Dipper shared a glance. Bill put his finger to his lips, then motioned with his head. The two of them advanced in that direction, slinking along.

As they got closer, they could hear the whine of industrial equipment, and the shouting of men barking orders. Soon they could see a clearing, and they got as close as they dared, sticking to the shadows.

Before them stood an intimidating military complex. It was only half built, with men in hardhats felling trees and attaching paneling to huge, metallic skeletons. It was lit with stadium lights, impossibly bright after walking through the dark forest for so long.

As they watched, a black van with tinted windows drove up what looked like a hastily-cleared dirt road. It parked, and was immediately swarmed by men in suits and sunglasses.

“Earplugs, everybody,” announced a man with a slate-grey tie, standing out against everyone else, who had black ties.

The black ties opened the trunk of the car, and ferried out a bunch of people with bags over their heads. One of the black ties brought the grey tie a suitcase.

Dipper saw as he took a glock out of the case, then screwed on a silencer.

He was paralyzed, thirty feet away from what was happening in front of him. It occurred to him that he should move, that he should _move_ , but he just sat there, his knees in the dirt, just watching.

Meanwhile, the hostages were arranged in a line. The workers didn’t stop to watch, they continued going about their business, barely sparing a glance to the impending massacre in front of them.

It was then that dipper noticed the mounds of freshly-turned dirt behind them. This was a common occurrence.

Grey-tie raised his pistol, placing the end of the silencer against the first hostage’s head, through the burlap sack. Dipper couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe- couldn’t _think_.

Bill grabbed Dipper’s hand, his grip crushing. Dipper was finally able to look away, at Bill, who was looking at him like his name had been drawn in Shirley Jackson’s lottery.

Dipper looked back at the clearing. The workers continued on, undisturbed. But-

All of the men in suits were staring at Dipper and Bill’s spot in the bushes.

 _“You’re swarming with them,”_ Bill whispered, barely above a breath. _”We both are.”_

Ah, fuck. Right. Timore ate fear, they would be attracted to it.

Grey-tie gestured, and two of the others advanced toward them.

 _“Well, you were so confident in our abilities,”_ Dipper whispered back. 

Bill raised out of his crouch, eyes flashing blue. 

Dipper started to move, but was stopped with Bill’s hand on his shoulder.

 _”You stay here,”_ he commanded, steely eyes flittering over Dipper’s face. _”Fire doesn’t stop bullets.”_

And with that, Bill launched himself over the bushes, but not before Dipper sent a protective spell in his direction.

Dipper watched while Bill fought them.

The first thing he did was take out the gun. It was a good plan, but vaporizing the metal left him distracted enough for everyone else to take out weird lazer things- they fired immediately, and Bill managed to block or dodge most of the important ones, pulling up some sort of glowing transparent barrier, but one of the earlier shots grazed his arm.

Endearingly, Dipper noticed that Bill made sure that the barrier was also between Dipper and the suits.

From behind the barrier, Bill splayed his hand and the ground beneath the men was scooped out from underneath. While they tried to climb out of the pit, Bill moved the hostages out of the line of fire, manipulating the earth to zip them over to the side.

As great as Bill was doing, Dipper was going to help. As he twisted the metal structures, the screws falling out and the skeletons buckling, the men working to put them together fled the scene, abandoning equipment and each other, running to the various mobiles and starting them up.

An alarm sounded, and the lights shut off, replaced with bright red sirens. Through the strobe lights, you could only see what was happening every other second.

Bill had the men backed up against the failing structure. 

The only man who still had his weapon fired.

Bill was on the ground, but the suits fled the scene.

They hopped into the van and sped off, and Bill still wasn’t moving.

Dipper ran to him. Through the flashing lights permeated the smell of burnt flesh, and as a growing rumble started to shake the ground, he realised that he had to get out of here. Now.

He grabbed Bill’s body, and pulled from his core, desperately wishing to be somewhere _safe._

The ground started to drop away around them, consuming the structure and the equipment. The edge of the falling earth approached at a rapid speed. Still, Dipper concentrated on going home.

Bill’s eyes were closed, and his head was loling. Something slick covered Dipper’s hands. The ground they were on started to fall and tumble away.

 _Bill needs to be safe._ Dipper focused, the desperation in his thoughts climbing even higher as he felt the lurch in his gut that meant they were going into freefall, Bill needs to be SAFE.

There was a bright flash of white light, and Bill and Dipper hit the floor of the shack, hard.

Bill groaned. Trying to catch his breath, Dipper dug through the mess of blood and fabric on Bill’s chest, trying to find the wound.

Despite all the blood, there was nothing.

Carefully, Bill sat up. He looked at his own stomach, dazed. “Woah. I could’ve sworn there was a gaping hole there.”

Dipper noticed he was crying. “Um,” he choked. “I think I might’ve fixed it.”

Bill looked at him for a moment. Dipper barely noticed; he was kind of freaking out a bit, and was just trying to calm himself down.

Biting his lip, Bill lightly touched his arm to get his attention. Dipper noticed he was still holding him. “Healing is impossibly difficult. Doing that like you did with no instruction was incredibly impressive.” Bill started to make circles with his thumb, which was calming, but also smearing blood on Dipper’s arm. “I’m all better now. We’re both safe.”

Just as Dipper opened his mouth to talk, he felt the ground shudder, and a loud boom in the distance.

Bill made a disappointed noise. “Well, there goes our chance at trying to salvage any info.”

Dipper didn’t say anything. He was more than glad that they didn’t have to go back there.

Bill looked down between the two of them. “We should get cleaned up,” he said.

Dipper nodded.

“You’re going to have to get off,” Bill said.

Dipper started. He awkwardly stood up.

Bill stood up with him. He peeled off his shirt, and looked at his skirt like it had personally offended him. “Mabel’s probably going to be mad at me.”

“Yeah,” Dipper intoned. “Do you mind if I take the shower first?”

“Go ahead,” Bill shrugged. “Just don’t be too long. I’ll try not to get any more blood on anything.”

Dipper was desperately trying to keep it together. He was glad that Bill had not made any of the completely logical arguments about why he should go first. That was nice of him. 

Carefully, Dipper trudged up the stairs, leaning on the railing to stay upright. He felt totally wrecked. Some combination of emotional exhaustion and the result of using all that magic, probably. Mostly the first one, though.

He took his shower. Had a good cry, calmed himself down. Let the scalding water run over his face and down his back. Rubbed the dried blood out from underneath his fingernails. He wanted to stay in there forever.

Dipper had fallen asleep standing up when someone softly tapped on the bathroom door.

“Hey, Sapling, I cleaned up the blood downstairs. Do you know how much longer you’re going to be?”

Dipper turned off the water. “Sorry,” he called. He quickly dried off and put on the spare change of clothes he’d brought with him. He opened the door, his skin still flushed and damp.

Bill stared at him for a moment.

“Your turn,” Dipper commented.

“Yeah,” Bill said. He didn’t move.

They both just kind of stood there. 

Eventually, Dipper cleared his throat. “...I’ll go grab you some of Mabel’s old pajamas.” He stumbled past Bill and started walking down the hallway. He heard the bathroom door close behind him about the time he reached Mabel’s old room, which still had some 17-year-old mabel stuff in it. 

Normally, he would be hyper-analysing everything going on, but he could barely stay awake. He stood in the center of Mabel’s room for a minute or two, trying to remember what he’d come there for.

Eventually he managed to grab a pair of Mabel’s old pajamas with a pattern of yellow ducks on it, and brought it over to the bathroom.

Checking to make sure the water was running, he rapped on the door. “I’m leaving some clothes for you on the floor here,” he called. There wasn’t an answer.

He walked back to his room and sat on his bed. He was calm, but had that undercurrent of anxiety that meant as soon as he had the energy to think about things, he was probably going to panic. Even now, he was slowly growing more and more concerned and awake, the more he dwelled.

After about ten minutes, Dipper’s door was pushed all the way open.

He looked up. Bill was there, looking at him with a concerned expression. “I was thinking- we should talk about our plan.”

Dipper nodded. Knowing what he had to do, or just knowing more in general, would make him feel much better.

Bill nodded back. “So, in summary- they were building a secret base in the woods. They were killing people, and there’s a sizable operation going on. A decent amount of funding, at least.”

Dipper fidgeted. “It’s probably E-corp. They’re the only organization around here with the power and money.” He’d noticed how quickly they’d extended their reach when he was in town- They were buying up small businesses, monopolising local industries. Mostly, they’d bought up land.

Bill looked at the pictures on Dipper’s dresser with unguarded interest. “The deaths are probably just them stirring up local paranoia. And if they had people who could see the Timore, they’re probably working with them.”

“Why did they kill off their food supply? Why scatter the herd?” Dipper asked, laying down on his bed.

“Happy people aren't scared, Pine Tree, not really.” Bill sat down next to him.

He put his hands over Dipper’s, and Dipper stopped fidgeting. Bill started to rub his thumbs in circles again, and Dipper started to calm down.

He adopted what Dipper had learned to think of his ‘calm lecturing’ tone. “Sure, you can get an adrenaline rush from a film, or a sport. You can read a story and bump up your anxiety levels. You can worry so much about a test that you throw up or get ulcers. Point is,” he said, leaning back, “Nothing your average Joe experiences is more than a light snack. Nowadays, true fear only extends to people who're living through some serious shit.”

Dipper was still managing to be calm. Even if Bill wasn’t talking about the nicest stuff, his voice was hushed and soothing.

Bill’s expression turned grave. “Not that there's any shortage of those. Abuse survivors. Kids in Syria. People tortured by their own minds. That sort of stuff.” He sighed and layed down next to Dipper on the bed.

“That sort of stuff,” Dipper echoed. “So why are they attacking Gravity Falls, and not, like, war-torn countries, or serial killer’s basements?”

“They would, if they got out. But you're missing the point,” Bill gesticulated, frustrated. “Humanity as a whole hasn't been truly Afraid since the bronze age. Once they figure out how to get past the barrier that kept _me_ in the last time I had three dimensions,” he glared pointedly at Dipper, but without any real heat, “shit’s gonna go down. I’m just saying, don't leave any nuclear launch codes lying around.”

“Aw, damn. And here I was planning to go around giving nuclear launch codes out tomorrow. Guess I’ll have to find something else to do.”

Bill giggled and hid his grin in Dipper’s hair.

Dipper smiled, too. He had plenty to worry about, but he was calm. He was exhausted, but he felt safe.

* * *

Dipper woke to knocking on the front door.

It was distant and soft, the noise coming from downstairs. He was warm and comfortable, and wasn’t inclined to answer it by any sense of urgency, but after a moment, the knocking paused, then continued more insistently.

Dipper opened his eyes, and moved his face from the chest it was pressed up against.

Oh.

The clock said it was 12:45, and sunlight was streaming in through the shutters over the window. Dipper carefully extracted his limbs from where they were tangled with Bill’s, then slowly stepped over him and onto the floor. 

Pausing, Dipper took a second to look Bill over: His hair flattened against his head, marks on his cheek from the folded fabric on the pillow. His mouth was open, drooling a bit. He snored softly, the noise rumbling in his throat.

The knocking from downstairs became more persistent.

Dipper carefully brought the blanket up around Bill’s shoulders, then quietly tiptoed downstairs.

As he approached the door, he recognised the voices.

“-He’s probably just out. We can come back later, Ford.”

“No, the girl at McGucket’s mansion said-”

Dipper opened the door.

“Oh, thank god, Dipper,” his grunkle Ford asked, flanked on either side by McGucket and Stan Senior, “What did you call us for? You said it was important.”

“Uh,” Dipper said, very intelligently. He was at a loss. On one hand, he needed help from his uncles. On the other hand-

“Hey, Dipper, can you make eggs again, those things were good-” Bill walked up next to him, and when he saw Ford, abruptly froze and stopped talking.

Ford looked surprised. Then he looked _angry_. “What- How in the _hell_ \- Why _on earth_ is _he_ here!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> summer is here. and i passed all but one class. so death is not imminent. 
> 
> sorry to shove my anti-capitalist themes in your face but also not sorry because the amount of freedom we give corporations in America is Hell
> 
> yo also! i edited shit in earlier chapters. for like. word choice and clarity and html bs


	10. I Give Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> im never gonna finish this fic but heres what i had planned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo sorry but i no longer have the time or the drive for this
> 
> thanks for sticking with me tho i appreciate it

WHAT I HAD WRITTEN OF CH 10

Bill just stood there, looking back between Stanford and Dipper like a really high-def Loony Toon. “Pine Tree, what did you _do?_ ”

“Excuse me, Cipher, but I believe that’s MY line,” Ford boomed.

Bill’s eyes narrowed into slits, the skin between them wrinkling exaggeratedly as they started to glow red. “Get him inside the fucking shack, NOW.”

Stan looked lost. McGucket was pensive. Ford looked expectantly at Dipper, still angry, but expecting his grand-nephew to back him up.

Dipper sighed and ushered them all through the door. “Sorry. Why don’t you all come in and we’ll get everything sorted out.”

Ford gaped at him, surprised at his compliance with Bill, but he closed his mouth as he quickly realised that Dipper’s offer was perfectly reasonable, and not really worth objecting to.

The three of them filed in, arms full of luggage. 

Bill’s gaze was flickering from window to door to shadowy corner. “They somehow don’t know you’re here yet, thank god,” he hissed, starting to calm down. “Whatever you’ve got that kept me outta your head seems to work for them, too.”

Dipper was mildly annoyed. “Bill, what’s-”

Wordlessly, Bill put his hand on Dipper’s shoulder, and gave him a look.

Dipper paused, and took a moment to think through the cloud of building panic.

Oh. Right. The Timore, or whatever. They were stuck for the same reason Bill was stuck. The Weirdness Magnetism Effect. Stanford knew how to bypass it. But, hadn’t Bill said-

Dipper brought Bill aside. “I thought they were disorganized and animalistic. How would they know to target Ford?” He murmured at Bill.

Ford stared at them from the couch seat next to McGucket, outraged and confused. 

The other two seemed to be preparing a neutral stance.

Bill nodded, and quietly spoke back. “The Timore aren’t just those spidery white things. Those are just the footsoldiers. There’s plenty of other _things_ that can control them. Their ‘generals.’ That skinwalker you saw the other day is like a low-level sergeant, for example.”

Dipper nodded in understanding. Okay, more reason to be terrified. Whatever, he could deal with it.

The two of them turned towards the old men, who all were varying degrees of annoyed at being cut out of the conversation.

Dipper decided to lead with “Sorry about that. Just had to check something.” evidently, that was not as placating as he’d hoped.

“You BET you’re sorry,” Ford started off, “Do you _know_ the kind of risk-”

“Now hold on,” Stan cut in, “before you give the kid a hard time, at least let him explain.”

McGucket put his hand on Ford’s shoulder, and he visibly calmed. “Dipper is a pretty smart young’un. He must have a reason.”

“Yeah, you tell him,” Bill grinned.

All three of them glared at Bill.

“..Okay,” Dipper started. “So, turns out, even after Bill wasn’t around to hold the portal wide open, it didn’t close on it’s own. And like, these extradimensional parasites are coming through-”

“Did _he_ tell you that?” Ford sneered at Bill.

“Well, yes and no, I mean, I already knew something was up, he just gave me specifics-”

“Exactly.” Ford crossed his arms. “He’s manipulating you. You’ve been tricked into giving him agency and power in this dimension.”

 

Mabel comes home from the hospital, 100% ok except for a sprained elbow, so she’s got her arm in a cast.

 

EVERYTHING ELSE:

ch 11

11 - Kate Batts  
investigation

hes by himself because bills throwing a tantrum/”watching the house”

Mabel is sitting across the street with a laptop, researching and scanning w/ their tech

leads to an abandoned shack at the end of an abandoned dirt road in the middle of the forest

Dipper looked around. The insides of the graffiti-ridden walls had insulation pulled out, only the concrete supports remaining in most places.

Looking around every corner and room on the one-story building, he finally came across some stairs leading down. “Ah, shit.” He languished. “Please, not the basement. Not the basement.” But he’d been through the entire first floor now, overturning planks and debris, and this was the only clue he’d found. “Ah, fuck. Mabel, are you still there? Mabel?” Static. “I’m going down.”

“Dipper, you’re going to be okay,” Bill’s voice was calm, and he made soft shushing noises. “If you’re not scared, they’ll go away, find someplace else to eat.” Dipper slowed his breathing, and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the sick feeling crawling up his spine. The large one in front of him tilted it’s head into his neck and breathed. The smell was unbearable, like iron and roadkill. “Babe, It’s going to be fine,” Bill crooned, his voice muffled by static. “These assholes are shit at most everything. They don’t even know you’re a threat.” Bill chuckled. “They’re not going to do anything to you unless there’s someone around to watch.” Dipper felt better. Bill was right. _It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be ok. I’m not in any real danger,_ Dipper thought.

Dipper finds the youngest McKinnley kid

Dipper approached the child slowly. he was covered in scratches and bruises. He couldn’t be more than seven years old. “Hey, shh, what’s your name?”

“J-James.”

 

ch 12

12  
feelings chapter

Mabel left Dipper in a dangerous situation because pacifica had a panic attack

Holding pacifica in her arms, rocking back and forth and shushing, Mabel watched out the window as the sun disappeared past the horizon, the sky darkening. 

Bill is furious with Mabel

“If it was me in there, and Dipper breaking down thirty minutes away, would you have stayed with me?”

Bill tilted his chin up. “No. Of course not.”

Dipper starts working to clear his head. also because he needs to learn to be able to work regardless of mood. It is revealed that Bill sucks at math. 

“It’s just instinct, for me. I am a triangle.” Bill lifted his hands and shrugged. “You don’t have to memorise the equations that let your arm throw a ball to chuck it at someone’s head.”

“Careful there, Pine Tree.” Bill came stomping into the room. “You’re falling asleep in your cereal there.”

Dipper lets Bill go. Bill stays.

 

ch 13

13 - rest stops as liminal places  
dipper learns magic

Bill showed him a few runes.

“How do you know all these?”

“I've seen other people use them. I dont have to use them, so the symbols are useless to me. I never learned how to make them from scratch.”

he keeps it from his sister (feelings of inadequacy, thinks his sister is going to destroy him at it, can't he just have ONE THING, etc)

Mabel gaped. “You weren’t planning on telling me,” she concluded, shock written across her face.

She and Dipper fighting, they each go off to complain to their romantic interest (Heavyweight championship: Bill & Dipper vs Pacifica and Mabel)

ends with:  
bill being super interested in/perplexed by 3d

he's moving from abstract concepts into harsh reality

but abstract concepts are what magic works in so he's super good @ that

“You’re not very good at what most people can grasp naturally. That’s not a bad thing,” he added when Dipper bristled. “You can work without information computers need to function.”

“And what would that be?” Dipper asked, bitter but still intrigued.

“Specifics, Pine Tree,” Bill muttered. “Where I come from, things aren’t concrete. Not like here.”

The television set flickered on.

Dipper startled, jumping away.

Bill continued. “You don’t have, say, a green square.”

A bright-green square appeared against the static.

“There’s only the suggestion of one. But Because there’s a suggestion of one here,” he pointed, “There’s the suggestion of the suggestion of the green square everywhere else, and so on.”

The screen went completely green.

“At least, so long as there’s nothing more tangible left to fill the space.”

Yellow triangles started appearing in a pattern, branching out and covering the green.

“Everything’s in fractals.” Bill’s fingers extended as he spread his hands wide.

The television screen filled with a beautiful, ever-changing kaleidoscope of colors and shapes.

“The sixties got it,” Bill stated, almost to himself. He wrapped his arm gently around dipper’s shoulders, and rested the side of his face on Dipper’s forehead. Palm up, he gestured towards the television in front of them, the only light in the room. “I mean, you guys have gradients and stuff, I suppose that's cool. Overall, people are pretty great. So complex,” he sighed.

Dipper thought, idly, that this was the quietest he’d ever heard Bill speak.

He kept going. “I've always loved humanity, y’know? even if I get a little power hungry now and again. I've never found anything so talented at propagating chaos.” Bill made a contented noise in the back of his throat. “of all the civilizations I've seen, aliens I've encountered, humans have a balance between selfishness and loyalty unmatched by anything else. Like an ant hill with politics.” His eyes closed, his features relaxing.

“I’m trying to figure out if that's a compliment or not,” Dipper replied, his voice rough.

The fluctuating colors from the TV outlined the dip of Bill’s lips, casting light on his hooked nose and heavy eyelids.

“Me too,” Bill replied, after a moment. He breathed out, and Dipper felt the puff of air against his cheek. His eyes half-opened, and he grinned lazily.

The two stood there for a few more minutes, pretending to watch the changing patterns illuminating the room. If Bill’s hand made its way to Dipper’s hip, and if Dipper’s head moved to Bill’s shoulder, neither commented on it.

ch 14

the timor make a move

“Pine Tree?” Dipper stood still, his mouth forming silent words and fingers tapping and fidgeting. He was looking straight at Bill, but wasn’t seeing him. He snapped out of it, jumping up and whooping. “I know what it is,” he proudly declared, rushing over to his dresser. “There was this project I was working on a few months ago-” he started rummaging through his notes. “Aha! Here it is,” shouting, he held up a small stack of papers.

“The runes _are_ just like equations. Look at these patterns.” He showed Bill some examples. “It’s like chemistry- we need to combine the properties to form the equation. If we can alter the WME so it shrinks to just around the fracture, we can confine the timore.”

“One problem with that,” Bill spoke up. “I would disintegrate.”

“No.” Dipper thought. “I don’t think so. You’re a stable mix of all three kinds of magic- plus you’re attached to me. The low-level chaos-structured that the townsfolk souls contain isn’t limited by the WME. There’s no reason for it to restrain you, so long as we keep your power levels a bit lower than normal.”

“Are you saying you know more than me, the Eye of Providence?”

“Well. Yeah. I just disagree.” Dipper sighed and put his hand on Bill’s arm. “You’re going to have to trust me.”

 

ch 15

dipper and Bill spend a lot of time together, researching. Dipper on equations, Bill on concept.

“Hey- I just. You haven’t been calling me ‘kid’ lately.”

Bill nodded. “I’ve been calling you ‘Dipper,’ yeah.”

“Why?”

“You’re not a kid, Dipper. I mean, you might have a bad case of baby face-”

Dipper jokingly pushed him.

Bill smiled. “But you’re capable. I didn’t really see it before. Now I do.”

“Huh.”

Bill looked pensively off into the distance. “You’re more ‘capable’ than most people, pine tree. More than your Uncles. More than me, even.”

As a trial run, they fix the shack’s field.

“So you guys redid the protection even after I smashed it? I thought you thought I was gone forever.”

“What can I say, Grunkle Ford is paranoid.”

“Or he knew it was possible I could come back.”

“If he did, he didn’t know about the statue, I guess.” Dipper gave an appreciative hum as he leaned back and checked over his work. There was a circle of runes from various cultures drawn in pig’s blood, the undead needed to restrain and limit the chaos magic. “Okay, we’re ready.”

* * *

Bill pulled at bones strung around his neck. “This is stupid,” he grumbled. “I feel like you would if you had pneumonia.” He was panting, and stumbled a bit as he trailed after dipper, who was setting up a large rune.

“Sorry, but if that doesn't have the time to absorb as much of your chaos as possible, something much worse could happen to you.”

“I knoooow,” Bill whined. “That doesn't mean I have to like it.”

“I get that feeling weak is a painful reminder of when we so heroically defeated you,” Dipper said, intending to tease.

Bill was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, actually.”

Dipper stopped what he was doing at looked up at him.

“It reminds me of when I died. Which you all were justified in, I know, I know” Bill shrugged. “But once again, that doesn't mean I have to like it.” He looked away from Dipper’s face, at the ground. “I dream about it sometimes. I guess you’d call them nightmares.”

“Okay.” Dipper sat down, and started to direct the magic- pulling on the tickle in the back of his mind, presenting a bit of chaos to get the undead magic going-

“Dipper, Stop.”

Dipper looked up.  
Bill looked even sicker than before. There were puffy bags under his eyes, and his dark skin shone with sweat. “The barrier’s too weak. I can feel it.” His eyes were wide. “It’s going to shatter if we try and manipulate it.”

Dipper stopped what he was doing. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I guess we’ll have to remake it from the ground up.” Dipper looked at the almost-empty bucket. “We’re going to need a lot more pig’s blood.”

ch 16

16 - the crushing fear of lonliness  
Mabel announces she and Pacifica are dating, and that they’d both applied to caltech and got in.

“McGucket granted us each a ‘scholarship.’”

“Don’t you feel bad taking his money like that?”

“He’s going to hire us for grad school. He says to think of it as him investing in us”

Ecorp rep returns

Some billdip fluff and dipper learns healing, starting with plants. At some point they make out.

It is revealed that ecorp has been weakening the field, so that the timore might escape

 

ch 17

The calm before the storm

Dipper and Mabes make up

“You trust him too much.” Mabel shook her head. “Even if you don’t, I remember having to comfort each other in the middle of the night while we grew up.” She took dipper’s hand. “I’m worried.”

“He’s good for me, I think.” Dipper didn't look at her face. “We both need people other than ourselves to take care of us, now. You have Grenda, Candy, and _Pacifica_ ,” Dipper saw Mabel blush out of the corner of his eye, “and I have Bill. And this town.”

Bill stared at the crumbling barrier, his face solemn. “Entropy approaches.”

ch 18

Final battle

Ecorp rep tries to stop them, hurts Dipper, Bill gets. Angry. And roasts him alive.

Mabel has to use magic at a crucial moment when dipper is incapacitated (if Dipper’s incapacitated bill can't use magic) and cannot do it. Her thoughts are too logical.

So Bill dies. Dipper tries to save him. But bill is dead, It’s all very dramatic.

ch 19 (epilogue)

Dipper gets a job working at the mystery shack

college is going well

Mabel and pacifica are getting married, sent a postcard from caltech

Mabel gives bill her blessing

It’s Dipper’s twenty-first birthday

“I think it might me a good thing, Dipper. Our ‘growing apart.’ I mean I’ll always love you, bro bro. But we have other lives now.”

haha sike bills a concept remember he cant die unless everyone who knows hims does

yo but also dipper hooked him up with his body again

my gays watchin the sun on the porch 

“You know Ecorp’s going to send a follow-up, right Dipper?”

“Yeah. But, lets face it.” Dipper let a bit of electricity.crackle between his fingertips. “We can take them.”

“show off,” Bill scoffed. But he was smilling.

Dipper looked at Bill, who was watching the sunset. Orange highlights danced across his face, getting caught it his hair. Something fluttered in Dipper’s stomach. He grabbed Bill’s hand.

Bill squeezed it without looking. “I think I kind of love you,” he said, still watching the horizon. He rested his head on Dipper’s shoulder.

“Weird,” Dipper intoned, a smile splitting his face in two, “I love you too. What a coincidence.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah sorry im just. done.

**Author's Note:**

> [moregaymemes](http://moregaymemes.tumblr.com)


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